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NORMAL STUDIES FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 



PRIMER 



OF 



CHEISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



R. A. REDFORD, M.A., LL.B., 

PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND APOLOGETICS, NEW COLLEGE, LONDON; 

AUTHOR OF 

•TUB CHRISTIAN'S PLEA AGAINST MODERN UNBELIEF," "PROPHECY: ITS NATURE A KD 

EVIDENCE," "THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE," "STUDIES IN THE BOOK OF 

JON Air," ETO. 



PBEPAREJ) UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
THE INTERNATIONAL NORMAL COMMITTEE. 

FEB '3 188$ 

BOSTOK:W 
(£angrepti0nai &uttua^£ri)00l anto Pubifsljfng Soctel 

CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 



AMERICAN EDITION, COPYRIGHTED, 1SS5. 



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PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



The plates of the Normal Studies for Sunday-School Teach- 
ers have been purchased by the Congregational Sunday-School 
and Publishing Society, from the London Sunday-School Union, 
together with the right to publish the books, so far as that right 
can be transferred. The officers of the London Sunday-School 
Union, in their communication transferring the plates to the 
Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing Society, declare 
that, " so far as this Union is concerned, we shall not supply 
any plates of the works to any other House in America ; and, 
so far as we can, we shall recognize your Society as being 
publishers of the works referred to'." 

Various revisions and additions have been made to the text ; 
and a copyright has been obtained to this edition. 



Thb Library 

of conhv *s 



WASHfNH I 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Limits of the Work ... ... ... ... ... 1 

What Christianity is ... ... ... ... 2 

Christianity the Beligion of Jesus Christ ... ... 3 

Christianity the Religion of the Bible ... ... 5 

Christianity the Religion of the Christian Church ... 7 

Christianity the Religion of the Christian Man ... 9 

How Christianity has been and is opposed ... ... 11 

What the Credentials of Christianity are ... 17 

The Credentials of Christianity as the Religion of Jesus 

Christ ... ... ... ... ... ... 18 

The Credentials of Christianity as the Religion of the 

Bible ... ... ... ... ... ... 29 

The Credentials of Christianity as the Religion of the 

Christian Church ;.. ... ... ... 43 

The Credentials of Christianity as the Religion of the 

Christian Man ... ... ... ... ,„ 54 

What Christianity is to the World ... ... 61 

How Christian Evidences should be studied ... ..* 70 

How to teach the Old Testament ... ... 81 






The other volumes of Normal Studies now ready are as 

follows : — 

THE YOUNG TEACHER: An Elementary Handbook of 
Sunday-school Instruction. By Wm. H. Groser, B.Sc, 
with an Introduction by J. II. Vincent, D.D. Price 

75 cts. 

Contents. — I. The Sunday School, its Scope and Aims. — II. 
The Chief Qualifications of the Sunday-school Teacher. — III. Prin- 
ciples of Instruction, and their Relation to Bible Teaching. — IV. 
Methods of Instruction : their Use in Bible Teaching. — V. Bible Les- 
sons, and How to Prepare Them. — VI. Class Teaching. — VII. Class 
Management. — VIII. Helps and Hinderauces. 

THE BIBLE: THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEXT-BOOK. 

By Alfred Holbobn, M.A. Price 75 cts. 

Contents. — Introductory letters by the author and Rev. A. E. 
Dunning. Evidences of the Authenticity and Genuineness of the 
Bible : Formation of the Canon : Characteristics of the Books: 
Language and Style of Scripture: Study of Scripture with Reference 
to Sunday-school Instruction : Means of Religious Instruction in 
the Old and New Testament : The Teaching Process, as Exemplified 
in the Bible. 

Address all orders to the Congregational Sunday 
School and Publishing Society, comer Beacon and 
Somerset Streets, Boston. 



PRIMER 

OF 

CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



Christian Evidence describes the arguments which are 
employed in support of Christianity. It should be clearly 
understood, that, when Christians undertake to meet 
those who doubt, or resist, the claims which are made on 
behalf of Christianity, they do not assume that they can 
remove every difficulty which may be suggested ; as that 
would be an assumption beyond the true modesty of those 
who remember the limitations of human faculties and the 
nature of the subject. Neither do they ignore the fact that 
opposition to the claims of religious truth may proceed 
from a state of mind which is itself the result of moral 
causes, and therefore to be chiefly removed by moral and 
spiritual means. But they address arguments to unbelievers, 
i.e. to those who demand them ; as meeting them on their 
own ground. And they supply believers with the reasons 
which support their faith ; that they may both believe 
more firmly, and resist the influence of objectors, whose 
words are sometimes artfully prepared to shake confidence, 
even where they cannot overthrow established positions. 
Particular and fragmentary objections to Christianity are 
common. A general assault upon the whole Christian 



2 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

system is rare. We are best prepared against the kind 
of opposition which is now prevalent by a careful aud 
systematic review of the whole circle of Christian evidence. 
Arguments in support of Christianity presuppose that 
we are able to state what Christianity is. and what is the 
claim which it makes upon the human mind. There is 
much included in the faith of Christians which is not 
peculiar to Christianity ; such as the personal existence of 
God; the responsibility of Man to God; the existence 
of the soul after death: the reality of a future state of 
rewards and punishments. It is an unfair demand to 
make of the Christian that he should be required to prove 
the truth of all that lies at the foundation of Religion. 
Some of the primary religious beliefs cannot be demon- 
strated, any more than the primary moral beliefs or the 
primary scientific beliefs. But Christianity has grouped 
together a number of truths which hold such a relation to 
one another (as they are presented in the Christian system) 
that they form a unity, which claims to be received as of 
Divine authority, as a revelation & ' xg all that came 

before it, and demanding universal acceptance. It is not 
enough to argue in support of particular truths which are 
included in Christianity. Xor is it our aim in this primer, 
to take the Christianity of one period or portion of Christen- 
Jom, as representative, exclusively, of who 
It cannot be denied tha: of the truth which is in 

Christianity is to be found elsewhere ; nor need it be denied 
that, during the Christian history, that which cannot be 
supported has been regarded by Christians as true. The 
argument concerns nothing but t itself said its 

true claims. T vTe must, then, understand, 

What Christianity is. 

The distinction must be made between true Christianity 
and (i.) Christianity as it became corrupted into Ecclesi- 



RELIGION OF JESUS CHRIST. 3 

astical Christianity ; such e.g. as the Christianity we find 
in the writings of Church fathers, or in the Roman Catholic 
hierarchy, or in the dogmatic theologians of the post- 
Reformation times, (ii.) Defective Christianity, such as 
may be seen exemplified in the Unitarian system, or any 
other which omits from its doctrine that which belongs 
to the vital substance of the Christian religion. 

Several points must be recognized, such as these : — 

1. Christianity took its rise as a distinct religion at a 
particular time. 

2. While it embraced much that was already taught, 
still it was not a mere development either out of Judaism 
or out of Paganism. 

3. It existed as a spiritual force and practical life in 
the world before the systematic teaching of it commenced. 

4. As the name implies, it was a religion which pro- 
ceeded from a person, and which was, as a whole, a personal 
product. 



Christianity is the Religion of Jesus Christ. 

History proves that He lived in Palestine. The existence 
of Christians can be traced to within a few years of 
the date of His death. [See page 17 on the Credentials of 
Christianity.] It is essential to Christianity that Jesus 
Christ, in Whom it commenced, was absolutely unique in 
person, character, and history. In person : He was at the 
same time one of the human family and above all the rest 
of men in every moral and spiritual attribute, sinless, 
absolutely free from error, possessed of Divine knowledge; 
In character : a spotless example of all those virtues which 
lift up and ennoble human life and make it happy — 
truthfulness, purity, love, self-sacrifice, humility, patience ; 
In history : an entire exception to the universal record of 
the past, manifesting Omnipotent power and irresistible 



4 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

force of will, yet ''despised and rejected of men," "suffering 
contradiction of sinners against Himself," cut off at three 
and thirty years of age by a cruel and shameful public 
execution, in which representatives of both the Jewish and 
heathen worlds took part. 

It is part of the teaching of Christianity that Jesus 
Christ came into a place and ministry which were prepared 
for Him by God in the course of many centuries, in one 
land, and among a people whose history is unique amono* 
the peoples of the world. Messiahship, as the Old Testa- 
ment sets it forth, includes the ideas of a Divine Prophet, 
a Divine Priest, and a Divine King ; of one, i.e., in whom 
God would supremely reveal His mind and will, reconcile 
the world unto Himself, notwithstanding its sinfulness, and 
reconstitute human society on a perfect model, which should 
contain within it perpetual righteousness, peace, and joy. 
Such an ideal was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 

After the death of Jesus, though nothing was written 
by Him, there was left behind Him the remembrance of His 
history, His character and His teachings, which were pre- 
served by a small body of followers, most of whom were 
actually His companions during His ministry, and one of 
whom, the apostle Paul, was specially prepared to take 
up the work of teaching, and was, immediately on his 
conversion, received by the Christians among whom he 
went as a true disciple. 

The personal authority of Jesus Christ was the sole 
ground of the authority of his apostles and disciples. 
They taught nothing but what they believed to be His 
teaching. They commenced the Christian Church and 
Christianity as a practical system, as representatives and 
members of Jesus Christ. He was their Head, their ruling 
authority, their sustaining power. While, therefore, we 
are dependent upon their accounts of their Master, and 
their representation of His doctrine, they became a mutual 
guarantee of sincerity and trustworthiness. The facts 



RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 5 

warranting the Truths, and the Truths warranting the 
facts. Gospels and Epistles confirming one another. 

This secondary character of the Christian writings is 
quite consistent with the claim which Christianity makes to 
be the religion of Christ, for while there must necessarily 
be somewhat of the medium mixing with the facts and 
truths themselves, it is not to their injury or obscuring, 
but rather for the better and fuller setting forth of the 
reality ; for we thus obtain a fourfold representation of 
Christ and Christianity, not contradictory but comple- 
mentary. The four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
John — giving us the four sides of the structure of facts 
and words, and the writings of St. James, St. Peter, St. 
Paul, and St. John, reflecting the different aspects of 
Christian faith and character, corresponding in some 
degree to the different but harmonious views of the 
Saviour's life and doctrine. 

It is necessary also to notice the " lifting up " of Christ 
by the crucifixion that He might "draw all men unto Him." 
The Christianity which does not include the death and 
resurrection of Jesus as its main feature, cannot be uni- 
versal, and remains within the narrow limits of Judaism. 
The Religion of Christ must be the religion of the crucified 
and risen Redeemer. 

Christianity is the Religion of the Bible. 

The word Bible properly means a collection of small 
books. The two volumes of the Old and New Testaments 
comprise writings extending over fifteen hundred years, 
possibly going back to a remote antiquity. While the 
New Testament has proceeded directly from the Christian 
Church, the Old Testament was, for more than a genera- 
tion after the death of Jesus Christ, used by Christians, 
in their services and worship generally, as their Bible. It 
was the Septuagint, or Greek version of the Old Testament, 



6 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

which was mostly read by~the first disciples of Christ. 
While they were accustomed to the words of the Jewish 
Scriptures, they did not follow Jewish traditions or Jewish 
interpretations. Christianity is not responsible for all 
that was believed among the Jews. 

It is a necessary instrument of a religion that it should 
be embodied in writings which could be handed down from 
age to age. But it is not necessary to the authority of 
such writings that they should be regarded as the only 
documents in which Divine Truth is taught, or that there 
is nothing in them which may not be superseded in course 
of time. 

The true conception of a Divine Revelation is that of a 
progressive communication of Truth, It is possible, there- 
fore, that, as book followed hook, through fifteen hundred 
years, np to the time of Christ, while the light increased, 
old things passed away. Revelation does not mean a 
disclosure of all the secrets of God, but a special and authori- 
tative teaching, through human instruments, under Divine 
guidance, with an end in view, in which all the progressive 
steps shall be perfected in one personal Manifestation. While, 
therefore, Christianity rests upon the whole Bible, it must 
be tried by the books of the Neiv Testament more than by 
those of the Old. The substance of Judaism, in so far as it 
is found in the Jewish Scriptures, was carried forward 
into Christianity. Some of the merely formal elements, 
which surrounded the Lord Jesus Christ in His ministry, 
were not adopted by Him, but left behind Him in the old 
dispensation. 

The distinctly Christian documents may be viewed in 
three aspects : — 

1. As historical, setting forth the facts on which Chris- 
tianity is founded. 

2. As doctrinal, proclaiming the constituents of a creed 
which, though not formally drawn up in the New Testa- 
ment, is implied throughout; the creed of the early Chris- 



RELIGION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 7 

tians, concerning God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Sin, 
Forgiveness, Judgment, and the Future State. 

3. As practical, laying down, either by precept or by 
description of Christian character and life, the rule or law 
of obedience to Christ, as the Head and King of His people, 
and the rightful Ruler of the world. 

The books of the New Testament should be read as 
the authoritative standards on these three subjects. What- 
ever use is made of other and later books, such as the 
writings of early fathers, and ecclesiastical writings gene- 
rally, they must not be regarded as superseding, in any 
sense, the New Testament ; nor is it safe to decide points 
of history, doctrine, or practice, by the standard of what 
was written subsequent to the time of the apostles. 

Christianity is the Religion of the Christian 
Church. 

By " the Christian Church" is meant the congregation or 
society of those who are separated from others as a religious 
community, on the ground of their faith in Jesus Christ, and 
in order to fulfil His commandments. There has never been 
a time, since that of the apostles, when there was not, 
somewhere in the world, such a society, however the 
number of Christians has varied, and whatever their state. 
While corruption crept in among those who were called 
Christians, it must be remembered that the Church itself 
was not responsible for those corruptions at its first com- 
mencement. The Christianity which came immediately 
from Christ, and which was expressed in the first Christian 
communities, was the Christianity which is embodied in 
the writings of the New Testament. We can easily trace 
the sources of those corruptions which subsequently flowed 
into the Church. They were partly due to the ignorance 
and defective characters of converts from heathenism, and 
partly to the want of faith in Christians themselves, lead- 



8 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

ing them to employ means and agencies which compro- 
mised their Christian spirit. At the same time it should 
be borne in mind that, whatever was added to genuine 
Christianity, whatever was taken from it, whatever per- 
versions of the truth were suffered, the standard of re- 
ference remained uninjured, viz. the Christian Scriptures, 
the character and practice of the primitive Church of the 
apostles. 

All true reformations and revivals of practical religion 
during the course of Christian history have been brought 
about by the influence of truths which were testified in the 
earliest Christian Churches. The word preached has been 
as nearly as possible the tvord of the Scriptures. The life 
enjoined has been the life which follows as closely as 
possible the example of Jesus Christ. The changes made 
have been with a view to recall primitive simplicity and 
purity of faith and practice. 

There is a great movement of Christians in modern 
times, in the spread of Christianity among the populations 
of the world, both where Christ is named, and where other 
religions have prevailed; the motive power of such efforts 
is not derived from spurious additions to the Truth, but 
from the quickened faith in Christ Himself. 

Admitting the imperfections and faults which have 
attached to all Christian Churches, without exception, 
especially since the apostles were removed, still it cannot 
be denied that communities of Christians have leavened 
very much of the w T orld with influences, which have in 
the long run worked for good ; that the progress of Europe 
and America, and the hopeful aspect of other quarters of 
the world, are due chiefly to Christianity. 

It is not possible for the spirit of denial or doubt to 
hold together communities of active well-doers. That the 
Christian Church should have maintained its agency, 
through so many centuries, is owing to the posit ice spiritual 
life that has been continued in it. And that the truth 



RELIGION OF THE CHRISTIAN MAN. 9 

should be clearing itself of accumulated errors is an 
evidence of its vitality and authority. At last Christianity 
will be seen clearly and fully in the Church. 

Christianity is the Religion of the Christian Man. 

It is quite possible to separate in thought that which 
any professed Christian derives from Christ from that 
which is due to his own weakness and imperfect realization 
of Christianity. We ought not to charge upon the religion 
professed the inconsistency and faultiness of the professor. 
Moreover, there is no claim made by Christianity which is 
falsified by the facts of men's characters and lives. If 
Jesus Christ had called only the righteous to Him, then 
He might be said to have failed, but the work which He 
undertakes and finishes is not to be judged of by what we 
see in this world alone. The character which falls short 
here is made complete hereafter. Some few facts with 
regard to the Christian man help us to see the distinctive 
nature and supreme value of. Christianity. 

There is no limit to the Christian ideal of humanity. 
Other religions, such as Paganism, Mahommedanism, 
Judaism, set before the individual man no such example as 
Jesas Christ, no such moral teaching as is found in the 
New Testament, and no such motives to live a new life as 
Christianity supplies. There is nothing which properly 
belongs to practical Christianity which represses the pure 
humanity of man. Tried by the test of actual life and 
history, the more Christian we are, the stronger and happier 
our personal manhood, and the healthier and more benefi- 
cent our influence on the world around us. There is an 
adaptation, in th.e Christian standard, to all varieties of 
men, to all countries and conditions of the social state. 
And it must be admitted, the personal exemplification of 
the standard, in Christ, sets it unmistakably before all as 
that which all can apply. 



10 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

The Christian man is what he is, as a Christian, because 
he believes in Christ. He is not to be judged by the stan- 
dard of conventional morality, nor of the conscience alone. 
His faith becomes a moral 'power within him, leading him 
to live a new life, impelling him to follow Christ, and thus 
setting before him the perfect standard of the New Testa- 
ment. His character, therefore, is ceaselessly progressive . 
Moreover, it is by the Christian society that the Christian 
man is nurtured and guided. The influence of Christianity 
is elevating to humanity as a whole. It tends to purify, as 
well as maintain, society generally. It points to a future, 
in which the kingdom of Christ shall be universal ; and 
from that kingdom shall be cast out all that defiles and 
degrades the nature of man. The ideal shall be reached. 



( 11 ) 



HOW CHRISTIANITY HAS BEEN AND IS 
OPPOSED. 

To understand the attacks made upon a religion is to learn 
how it is related to different systems, beliefs, philosophies, 
tendencies of thought, individual characters. Thus the 
study of the defence of Christianity is a valuable help to 
the Christian, both in meeting unbelief and in confirm- 
ing faith. 

Opposition to Christianity has proceeded from the State 
on political grounds; from rival religions, chiefly under 
the influence of fear and by the instigation of priestcraft ; 
or from the thinking men, such as philosophers, who, being 
ignorant of what Christianity taught, or unable to recon- 
cile it with their systems, scorned it as foolishness. Jews 
hated the name of Jesus, because their views of the Old 
Testament were condemned by the Gospel, and their 
national pride was offended. 

Early defences of Christianity corrected misrepresenta- 
tions of Christian character and aims, and sought to 
connect together the Old and New Testaments. But 
there was no formal written attack upon Christian teaching 
and documents until about A.D. 180, when probably Celsus, 
a philosopher, published a work with the title " A True 
Discourse," an elaborate assault, first upon the New Testa- 
ment as irreconcilable with the Old, next, upon the 
Christian life, as morally and politically blameworthy ; and 
then, upon the statements of the evangelists and the claims 
of Jesus Christ, miracles and Christian doctrines. This 
work was fully answered by the Greek father, Origen 7 in 



12 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

the book " Against Celsus," written about a.d. 250. 
Another antagonist was Porphyry (a.d. 233-305), of the 
New Platonic school, in Alexandria, more acute and subtle 
than Celsus, arguing against the authenticity of Scripture 
books, the philosophical validity of Christian doctrines, and 
the consistency of the apostles. His writings have all 
perished, though we have quotations from them in Christian 
fathers. In a.d. 303, Hierocles, president of Bithynia, and 
afterwards prefect of Alexandria, attempted to plead the 
cause of declining heathenism (as Julian the Apostate sub- 
sequently did, as emperor) by calling attention to Apollonius 
of Tyana, as a rival of Jesus Christ, in teaching and working 
of miracles. After the conversion of the Emperor Constantine 
(a.d. 312), from the fourth century, opposition to Chris- 
tianity was rare and feeble. Augustine shows us, in his 
" City of God," that there was much error and doubt still 
in the world, but opposition died away. 

For many centuries, during the supremacy of the 
Roman Catholic Church, speculative unbelief was sup- 
pressed, or took the form of heretical doctrine. But, in 
the Middle Ages, the discussions of the schoolmen prepared 
the way for intellectual doubt. Questions were asked 
which could not be answered. But whatever unbelieving 
tendencies were existing they were little expressed, though 
secretly propagated. The attempt, upon the part of philo- 
sophical minds, to secure a rational foundation for their 
creed, was the result of the intellectual awakening which 
marked the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The conflicts 
which arose between the modern intelligence and the 
spirit of medigevalism in the Romish Church, produced, in 
many, an antagonism to Christianity itself. The study of 
Scripture promoted criticism. Investigation and inquiry, 
while restlessly alive, had not always the opportunity or 
means of satisfaction. Philosophy was in its infancy ; 
Biblical study was immature. The result was, much of 
crude theology and the spread of unbelief. 



HOW CHRISTIANITY IS OPPOSED. 13 

English Deists commenced to write in the seventeenth 
century, with Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1581-1648), who 
was followed by Holies (1588-1679), Blount (1654-1603), 
Toland (1669-1722), Shaftesbury (1671-1713), Collins, 
(1676-1729), Woolston (1669-1733), Tindal (1657-1733), 
Morgan (died, 1743), Ohubb (1679-1747). ' Admitting 
what was called natural religion, they denied the truth 
of miracles, the specific doctrines of Christianity, and the 
canonical authority of the Scriptures. Their object was to 
meet the demands of the philosophical mind of the age, 
and to reduce Christianity to morality. Their opposition 
can be best understood by a study of Butler's great work, 
" The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the 
Constitution and Course of Nature," published in reply 
to the deist Tindal, in 1736. The eighteenth century 
developed the unbelief of the seventeenth ; particularly in 
the forms of materialism and rationalism. France and 
Germany, as well as England, were pervaded by the 
sceptical spirit. The names of Bolingbroke, Hume, Gibbon, 
Thomas Paine, Bayle, Voltaire, Rousseau, may be men- 
tioned; and German rationalism, commencing in Semler 
and culminating in D. F. Strauss, of Tubingen, whose 
" Life of Jesus " produced a very great effect on the 
Continent generally. There was a terrible outburst of 
infidelity in the French Revolution, which may be said to 
have relieved the intellectual atmosphere, like a discharge 
of electricity. The unbelief which characterized the 
commencement of the present century was much milder 
in expression, and gradually passed away, so far as it was 
in the form of direct attack upon Christianity. It has 
been followed, however, by a scepticism, which, while 
tempered by a more candid and reasonable spirit, is 
perhaps more deep-seated and determined. There have been 
English writers, in the first half of the century, who have 
retailed for their own public the rationalism of Germany, 
such as Mackay, Greg, F. W. Newman, Colenso, and others ; 



14 TRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

but the special feature of the middle of the present century 
has been the rise of philosophical sceptics, like Mr. John 
Stuart Mill, Mr. George Henry Lewes, Mr. Herbert Spencer, 
in our own country, and Auguste Gomte, Baur, Strauss, 
and Benan, in France and Germany, whose assaults, both 
upon fundamental truths of religion and upon the authority 
of the Scriptures, have been accompanied by a profound 
thought and acute and comprehensive criticism, quite un- 
known among unbelievers before their time. The scientific 
speculations of modern times have greatly influenced the 
tone of mind with which Christianity has been studied; 
especially as apparently rendering the accounts of miracles 
less credible, indeed to some incredible. 

At the present time unbelief assumes many different 
forms. The most prominent of these may be described 
briefly thus : — 

1. The scientific sceptics. Much in Christianity would 
be left unopposed by this class, so long as they are not 
required to accept miracles. A theory of the physical 
universe is held which is supposed to involve the rejection 
of Christianity. But the opposition to Christian Truth is 
not direct, rather indifference and contempt, with the notion 
that religion must give way to science. 

2. The positivist philosophers, who maintain as one of 
their dogmas that the religious state of mind is an earlier 
stage in the progressive development of thought, and that 
it is to be regarded as superseded by positive science. The 
theory of evolution is adopted by these speculators ; and 
that being taken as established (which it certainly is not), 
is regarded as a distinct contradiction of the positions of 
Christianity. 

3. The rationalistic critics. While there are many 
who oppose the Divine authority of the Bible, regarding 
it as inspired only in the same sense in which works of 
human genius are inspired, many more criticize the re- 
ceived views of Scripture with the utmost freedom, and 



CREDENTIALS OF CHRISTIANITY. 15 

reject the traditions of the Christian Church as to the 
authorship and dates of the several books , particularly as 
to the genuineness and antiquity of the boohs of Moses, the 
fourth Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, and all the epistles 
of St. Paul except Bo mans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and 
Galatians. 

Generally speaking, however, the criticism is not based 
so much upon the matter of the book, but upon details of 
language ; and upon the critic's own theory as to the use of 
words. The main attack upon the New Testament has 
proceeded from the school of Tubingen in Germany. It 
has been met with the greatest decision and learning by 
the defenders of the Christian position Notwithstanding 
the renewal of exploded objections, and attempts to rein- 
force worn-out theories, the influence of this hypercritical 
school is diminishing rapidly. 

4. The secularists. These are found chiefly among the 
working classes and the less educated. Their leaders are 
not mere sceptics, but frequently angry opponents of Christ 
and Christians. They occupy themselves much in setting 
forth difficulties and contradictions in the teachings of the 
Bible, inconsistencies in Christians, and the supposed irrecon- 
cileability of Christianity with social progress, particularly 
with the elevation of the lower classes and the realization 
of socialistic schemes. Some of them claim a high moral 
tone in their motives and aims. Others are, only too 
evidently, bitterly opposed to the lofty moral teachings of 
Christianity. But the one common feature of all alike is 
their bold denial of a future state ; or, at least, that man 
is required to prepare for such a state. Assuming that 
knowledge is only of what is observed by the senses, and 
that all beyond is unknowable, and therefore of no present 
interest, they inculcate a materialistic method of life, and 
profess entire confidence in the sufficiency of human science, 
as it advances, to meet all the wants of men and to renovate 
the world. 



16 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

But there are many who could scarcely be classed 
under any of these heads. They do not oppose Chris- 
tianity in the sense of denying that it is a true religion, 
and that it is working beneficially in the history of Man, 
but they treat it as open on every side to free criticism ; 
they doubt some of its acknowledged positions ; they pro- 
fess themselves willing to maintain its forms and worship, 
only on condition of accepting as much as pleases them of 
its creed ; they would fain have, placed side by side with 
it, and as deserving of a reverence almost as great, the 
intellectual acquirements and pursuits of the cultivated 
and scientific classes and the enthusiastic sentiments which 
attend upon Art. Such an attitude is keeping numbers 
from an examination of Christian Evidence, which would 
convince them that those who refuse to identify them- 
selves with Jesus Christ are really against Him. " Me 
that gathereth not with Him scattertth abroad" 



17 ) 



WHAT THE CREDENTIALS OF 
CHRISTIANITY ARE. 

Dr. Johnson defines "credential" "that which gives a 
title to credit ; the warrant upon which belief or authority 
is claimed." There are many such credentials of Chris- 
tianity according as it is regarded under any of the four 
different aspects just described. As the religion of Jesus 
Christ, the credentials will be those which can be traced 
to the person of Jesus Christ, as being manifestly from 
God. As the religion of the Bible, the credentials will be 
those which are presented in the sacred writings, their 
claim to be received as of Divine authority, their sub- 
stantial integrity as handed down to us, their substantial 
truthfulness as testifying to facts and doctrines, their 
unique superiority as a record of the Word given by 
the Spirit of God through many ages and especially in 
the first beginnings of Christianity. As the religion of the 
Christian Church, the credentials must be sought in the 
pages of history ; the examination of the remains of early 
Christian writings enabling us to trace the evidence of 
an unbroken chain of belief in the main points of the 
Christian creed and in the supreme authority of Christ 
and His apostles. As the religion of the Christian man, 
the credentials are wide and varied as humanity itself. 
They come from the depth of the heart, from the records 
of Christian missions, from the testimonies of the leading 
minds of the world since Christianity came into it, from 
the proved adaptation of the Christian religion to fulfil its 
aim which is universal dominion over the nature and life 
of Man. 



18 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



The Credentials of Christianity as the Religion 
of Jesus Christ. 

1. The character of Jesus Christ portrayed in the 
Gospels is a moral miracle. There are only three possible 
accounts to be given of it : (i.) that it was a pure invention 
of the men who wrote the Gospels; (ii.) that it was an 
idealized portrait, the original being much less wonderful ; 
(iii.) that the evangelists simply record the facts. No one 
has ever seriously maintained that the Gospels are fictitious. 
It would be to credit the writers with a power they 
evidently l\ad not, and would necessitate either collusion, 
or independent dishonest action, both of which would be 
inconsistent with their moral character. An idealized por- 
trait, if either gradually formed or the work of individuals, 
would certainly be very different from the Gospels in struc- 
ture. It would be more complete and finished, and would 
not be so remarkably free from personal bias of the writer's 
own mind. There is nothing, either in the matter or in 
the form, of the Gospel narrative, to suggest manipulation : 
that is, the writers did not mould the facts and sayings 
of Christ according to their own ideas, but simply recorded 
them. While there may be some evidence of intentional 
selection of matter, and special aim, in the order and 
arrangement, still there is no evidence of distinct intel- 
lectual plan, nor of co-operation to produce harmony and 
consistency. Each evangelist sets down that which serves 
his purpose, in many instances no doubt using the same 
original record, either written or oral, to some degree 
influenced by his own standpoint, but not, either by him- 
self or with others, aiming at producing an ideal portrait, 
only at a practical end % which is expressed by the Apostle 
Peter (2 Pet. i. 15), that others "after their decease may 
be able to have these things always in remembrance." 

There remains, then, only the third account possible. 



JESUS WROUGHT MIRACLES. 19 

The original from which the portrait is drawn is accurately 
represented in it : then, such a portrait is a credential of 
Christianity — for it sets before us One, who cannot be 
regarded as either an ordinary Man, or merely, an extraor- 
dinary Man, but who must have been, what He claimed 
to be, and what Christianity announces, " Son of God. 11 

The chief points of the character of Jesus Christ in 
which we see His claims supported are these : (i.) He grew 
up in the midst of the common world without the ordinary 
imperfections of men ; from a child He was spotlessly pure, 
while still truly human, in disposition and mode of life ; 
(ii.) He was not only free from the faults of a Jewish 
education, but became an entire exception to the Jewish- 
character ; (iii.) though from the time of His public 
ministry exposed to hatred and opposition, He was charged 
with noticing inconsistent with His claims, viewed morally ; 
(iv.) He was surrounded by a body of disciples, who 
themselves became examples of heroic self-sacrifice and 
holy life, and they always regarded Him as sustaining the 
claims He put forth to their reverence and obedience; 
(v.) from beginning to end of His ministry, and through 
persecution, and the cruel death of crucifixion, He was 
a perfect example of benevolence, humility, and patience, 
united with omnipotent power, superhuman wisdom, and 
perfect consciousness of His own greatness ; (vi.) the testi- 
monies of many of the pro Roundest students of history 
and of human character, may be adduced to the unsur- 
passable glory of Christ's character. Among others those 
of J. J. Rousseau, Napoleon the Great, the poet Goethe, 
the philosopher J. S. Mill, Mr. Lecky, the historian of 
morality, (vii.) Apart from the question of Christian 
faith, it must be admitted, the character of Jesus has 
immensely influenced the world, nor can any other be really 
compared with it. 

2. The teachings of Jesus Christ are a moral miracle. 
We may study the words of Christ, either as they came 



20 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE, 

from Him as a Galilean teacher, or as they stand in a 
body in the Gospels, capable of being set side by side with 
any othei body of words. It is impossible to account for 
them simply by reference to the Old Testament ; for they 
were not only original in form, but, often, much higher 
in spiritual import, than anything to be found in the 
Law, the Psalms or the prophets. They were altogether 
different from the current teaching of Jewish rabbis and 
heathen philosophers. Then, as compared with the words 
of others, notice their simplicity, their moral breadth and 
perfection, their adaptation to all times and places, 
their superiority to the weaknesses of human nature, and 
yet their power over men ; their inculcation of a life 
which is so different from the world's standard, and yet 
which is so fitted to bless and save the world ; their 
mission to the poor and afflicted. Philosophy has utterly 
failed to do, what the words of Jesus Christ have done, 
produce a great moral change in the world. Philosophy 
preached to the few ; Christ preached to the many. 
Philosophy sold its teachings for money ; Christ blesses 
all, " without money and without price.'' 1 Moreover, the 
words of Christ are based upon a claim of Divine Icnoiv- 
ledge which they fully sustain. They are the words of 
One who came out of " the bosom of the Father," and who 
could read the secrets of eternity. Many of Christ's 
sayings are too great and solemn to be uttered by any one, 
sincerely, who was himself a sinful man, like others. He 
"spake that which He knew, and He testified that which 
He had seen." 

8. Jesus Christ as a ivorJcer of miracles, stood above all 
others. 

Whether miracles have ever been performed or not, is 
a question which the Christian need not undertake to 
prove. ~No one, of any position, denies their possibility. 
All who admit that Jesus Christ was a moral miracle, 
will not hesitate to accept the narratives which describe 



JESUS WROUGHT MIRACLES. 21 

physical miracles. The miraculous facts are so inter- 
mingled with the Gospel history that it is impossible to 
dispense with them. It is agreed on all hands that the 
first three Gospels were published little more than a 
generation after the death of Christ ; had they been 
capable of refutation, enemies of Christianity would have 
refuted them. The miracles were so many that Jesus 
Christ would be publicly known as a miracle-worker. Had 
He wrought no miracle, such a claim could not have been 
put forth for Him : and if He wrought one, He could work 
all. Had the accounts been invented, they would have 
been very different, in character and style, as we can see 
by comparing the spurious Gospels with the Gospels of the 
New Testament. 

The miracles, if admitted to be real, place beyond 
doubt the claims of Jesus Christ ; for (i.) they testify to 
the presence of Divine power, co-operating ivith His teaching. 
The nature of the miracles forbids the supposition that 
they were wrought by ordinary agencies. They were 
often wrought at a distance, by a word, in cases where 
all human means were unavailable : upon the forces of 
nature which are beyond the control of man, as the wind 
and the sea. 

(ii.) They were performed in a manner which betokened 
the conscious possession by Jesus Christ of inexhaustible 
power and indisputable authority. 

(iii.) They were accompanied with a manifestation of 
knowledge and penetration into the secrets of men's 
thoughts and intentions, which shows that they were 
not mere coincidences or attendant occurrences, but true 
credentials of Christ's claims. 

(iv.) Jesus Himself appealed to such facts, as supporting 
His authority. 

(v.) The miracles were of such a character that they 
perfectly accord with the mission of the Saviour ; they were 
beneficent, wisely dispensed, intimately connected with 



22 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

spiritual teaching : never wrought for the sake of display, 
or at the challenge of opponents, or for personal objects. 

(vi.) Comparing the miracles wrought by Jesus Christ 
with those connected with other names in the Bible, as 
Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Peter, John, and Paul, we see at 
once the distinction, that the miracles of Christ were from 
Himself ; many more in number, and not merely put forth 
to authorize what he said, as Divinely sanctioned, but to 
prove that He was what He claimed to be, the '''Messiah" 
and "the Son of God." "Believe Me that I am in the 
Father, and the Father in Me : or else believe Me for the 
very works' sake" (because of the works), John xiv. 11. 

(vii.) But the one chief credential of a miraculous kind is 
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself from the dead. 

The Resurrection. This was universally accepted as the 
credential of Christianity within a generation of the fact 
itself. It was boldly proclaimed by apostles, and others, as 
such. The Christian Church rested on it, as a corner-stone, 
because it was identified with the claims of Jesus, His 
authority, His risen power, His living presence in the 
Church, the duty of serving Him, and the prospects of 
eternal life He had proclaimed. The evidence of the fact is 
sufficient. It is as follows : — 

(i.) Positive. He was seen by His disciples, after He was 
risen ; as, e.g., (a) by Mary and the women ; (o) by Peter ; 
(c) by James ; (d) by the disciples going to Fmmaus ; (e) 
by the apostles gathered together ; (/) by an assembly of 
apostles and disciples; (g) by seven disciples at Lake Ti- 
berias ; (Ji) at his ascension from Mount Olivet; and (i) 
lastly, by the apostle Paul, near Damascus. He probably 
manifested Himself on other occasions, when He discoursed 
with His disciples concerning His kingdom, for it is said 
(Acts i. 3) that " He showed himself alive after His passion 
by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days." 

(ii.) Negative, The absence in early times of all 
attempts to disprove the fact, on the part of enemies. The 






THE RESURRECTION. 23 

impossibility of sustaining any adverse theories, such as will 
account for the belief which became so rapidly universal. 
These theories may be summed up under three heads : — 
(1) Those which deny the fact and suppose it introduced 
into the Gospels in a later age. Some would boldly charge 
the writers with intention to deceive ; but these are very 
few. Others would place the Gospels in the second 
century, or parts of them (as Strauss), and would there- 
fore represent the Resurrection as a myth, which grew up 
out of the reverence for the character of Christ. But 
such writers are refuted by the proved age of the Gospels, 
by the earliest writings of Christian fathers, and by the 
fact that the Christian Church was built up upon the 
Resurrection, as is plainly seen in the writings of St. Paul 
(see Romans, and 1 and 2 Corinthians). (2) It has been 
suggested by some that Jesus did not really die, but was 
laid in the sepulchre in a state of insensibility ! This is 
a contradiction of the facts, is incredible, and is rejected 
by sceptics, like Strauss, as absurd. (3) The visionary 
hypothesis is revived by modern writers, who would fain 
be regarded as Christian. It is supposed that the followers 
of Jesus were credulous and superstitious ; ready for a 
vision ; inclined to make much of it ; and so little 
actuated by moral motives, that they could build up 
the Christian Church upon it. This is disproved by the 
manner in which the Resurrection is referred to in 
Christian writings; by the character of the men who 
believed it ; by the fact that enemies never suggested such 
an explanation ; and by the fact that the apostles distinctly 
declared that they had " conversed with the Lord after He 
had risen, and that He had given them His commandments." 
Then, further, it should be remembered, that the disciples 
did not expect the Resurrection ; were not in any enthusi- 
astic state when it occurred, but, rather, depressed and 
disconsolate ; did not treat it as a vision, but as a fact ; 
preached its moral fitness and the fulfilment of Christ's own 



24 PRBIER OF CHBISTIAK EVIDENCE, 

Is concerning it. and of the Old Testament prophecies; 

.timed it as the credential of the Messiah to Jews and 
Gentiles. As to the evidence of such a hypothesis being 
entertained in early times, there is none, for the body of Jesus 
could have been produced, if necessary, to destroy the belief 
in a mere vision ; nnless it were preached as snch and 
nothing more. (4) The latest theory is,, that of a spiritual 
appearance of the Lord. His body being left in the grave. In 
that case, it would of oonrs .Inch the first 

Christians distinctly denied. If it is meant, however (as it 
is by some) that the spiritual Resurrection of Jesus Christ 
involved the rising of His body, or m of the flesh into 

the spirit, then it can only be objected that such is not the 
view which the aj r'dently themselves took of the fact : 

and that, while it relieves us of no difficulty r , on account 
of the greatness of the work accomplished, it introduces a 
ehensible problem, namely, how the spiritual 
. or in any other way cause to 
disappear, (hi r fleshly body. That there was a 

spiritual change. . is evident, and was fore- 

told by the I i ; that it may be truly described 

as a Resurrection, is the : x to be held fast; that it 

proclaimed victory ove ture eternal life. But 

we must strenuously insist on the sincerity and straight- 

yard truthfulness of the Christian writers. There was no 
delusion, there was no illusion, there was no collusion; there 
was no f :. or expectation, working upon their minds, 

and producing statements icithout obf -.ality. It is 

perfectly true, as eminent scientific men have admitted, 
that, the evidence for the Resurrection is a wider and 
better evidence than that for any other miracle, and it ca 
all the rest with it. for the greater includes the less. The 
Resurrection was not only a credential, but itself a sub- 
stantial part of the gospel message to the world. 

4. The ice of Jesus Christ upon His immediate 

followers, is another proof of His authority. Whatever we 



Christ's influence on his followers. 2b 

know of Christ has come to us through those who were 
with Him, who were, as the evangelist Luke states, "from 
the beginning eye-witnesses and ministers of the word" 
(Luke i. 2). He wrote nothing down Himself. It is a 
well-known fact that the Jews were always, and especially 
in the later times of their history, very reluctant to write 
dozen what might be regarded as "Scripture" Yet we 
have a number of books written by Jews, which came to be 
held as on a level with the books of the Old Testament. Had 
the writers been actuated by nothing more than their own 
private thoughts and aims, it is impossible to explain the fact 
that they were regarded by their contemporaries as writing 
with authority. Then, moreover, with the exceptions of St. 
Luke and St. Paul, those whose names are attached to the 
New Testament writings w 7 ere not highly trained literary 
men, but came from the class of fishermen of Galilee, or men 
of business, such as Matthew the publican. If such men 
really wrote the works to which their name is attached, a 
great change must have been wrought in them, which was 
due to the personal influence of Jesus Christ. The simple 
fact that there were twelve Jews, who, after the death of 
Jesus, represented Him to the world, cannot be denied, in 
face of the evidence to be derived from the books of the 
New Testament, and from the early Christian writings. 
Consider, then, what is implied in that fact. The ordinary 
Jew, of the time of Christ, was a very different man from 
an apostle of Christ. He was under the influence of rab- 
binical teaching, which would make Him narrow, bigoted, 
formal, ritualistic. He would be quite incapable of preaching, 
and would not be sufficiently instructed in the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures to argue in synagogues. He would have 
no motive to leave His home, and common life, in order to 
visit other countries on a religious errand. He would be un- 
prepared to meet the dangers of that fierce opposition, which 
all new doctrines encounter, in such a people and time as 
those in which Christianity commenced. Now, the his- 



26 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE, 

torical necessities of the case prove that the apostles must 
have been lifted, by the presence and influence of Jesus 
Christ, completely above their ordinary life, and filled with 
a new spirit. The instances of the eleven, who were im- 
mediate companions of Jesus, must have been examples of 
moral and spiritual change, simply inexplicable on any 
other ground than the influence of the Lord Himself ; and 
if the moral miracle of their change is to be attributed to 
Him, then He must have been, substantially, what they 
represent Him. The apostle Paul stands by himself as 
proving, apart from the miraculous conversion narrated in 
the Acts (ix. 1-9), that one who was of the highest order of 
mind, and above suspicion as a truthful and earnest man, 
not only believed in the facts of Christ's history and in 
His claims as the Messiah, but was changed by Him from 
being a persecutor of Christians to be the " apostle of the 
Gentiles," and devoted the whole of his remaining life to 
preaching the gospel, sealing his testimony with his blood. 
It is now admitted by all critics, even those who reject 
much of the New Testament as not authentic, that four 
of St. Paul's Epistles — Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and 
Galatians — were written by him. They fully prove that 
he accepted the facts of the Gospels, especially the Resurrec- 
tion ; that he preached what is now regarded as the doctrine 
Christ taught ; that the early Christian Church was founded 
on the basis of the same faith which he professed; there- 
fore the whole of the New Testament came forth from 
Christ, as the true source of it. 

The influence of Christ on His followers was morally 
miraculous, inasmuch as they were completely delivered 
from their popular Jewish prejudices and became spiritually 
minded men. This is witnessed by the fact that their 
preaching was distasteful to the Jewish authorities of 
their day, and that the Christian Church which was 
founded by them, in Jerusalem, and other places, while 
largely composed of those who were Jews by nation, and 



CONTRAST BETWEEN APOSTLES AND OTHERS. 27 

retaining some Jewish, narrowness, still proclaimed the 
gospel to the world as a doctrine of liberty which superseded 
the Judaism of former times. 

Another evidence of the power which Jesus Christ 
exercised on His followers is seen in the contrast between 
the apostles and those who immediately succeeded them, 
on the one hand, and, on the other, the leaders of the 
Christian Church after time had obscured the teaching of 
the first disciples to some extent. When we compare the 
writings of the New Testament with those of men less 
under the influence of Christ, such as Justin Martyr and 
Irenoeus, Cyprian and Tertiulian, Clement of Alexandria, 
and Origen, we are compelled to admit that, while there 
is intellectual power and culture in the later writers, 
there is a very much lower degree of spiritual enlighten- 
ment, much less of simplicity and sincerity, and much more 
of the influence of merely human philosophy and current 
opinion. In other words, those who received the impression 
of Christ's teaching and character more immediately and 
purely, who reflect it more accurately in their writings, 
are incalculably superior to those who, being farther off 
from Him, have less of His Spirit and more of themselves 
in their writings. This, therefore, argues that Christ 
Himself must have been not less, but greater, than His 
followers. 

We may add to this argument the consideration of 
the unity of representation, which we find in the New 
Testament, in the variety of the apostolic character and 
doctrine. This may be regarded in the three main aspects 
of the early Christian thought and spirit, expressed by the 
three leading apostles, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John. 
Each writes from his own standpoint ; yet their doctrines 
do not in the least clash with one another, but perfectly 
harmonize. The Pauline representation of Christ and 
Christianity is much more theologically developed than 
that of the first and second Epistles of St. Peter, or that 



28 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

which we find in the first few chapters of the Acts of the 
Apostles ; but when we compare both with the first three 
Gospels, we find that the centre is the same, thongh the 
circumference is expanded; and when we place the Gospel 
and Epistles of John beside the three first Gospels and 
the writings of Peter and Paul, there is no contradiction. 
The central facts are the same, only that they are set 
in a more direct light of Divine glory; and a more seer-like 
spirit, in the apostle John, deals with the truth of Christ's 
words. Is it possible that three such different men should 
have written of Jesus Christ, and expounded His doctrine, 
and vet have remained so entirely at one in all essential 
matters, unless His ministry had been what it is represented 
to have been, and unless He had been Himself above man? 
It should be remembered, too, that in the case of the 
apostle John, there was very little which could be ac- 
counted extraneous to the influence of Christ upon him. 
He was quite a young man when Jesus ascended to 
heaven ; he remained for some fifty or sixty years an 
apostle; his writings betray no perversion of his Christian 
faith or of the simplicity of his character ; we may, with- 
out going beyond the evidence of the facts, say of him, 
that the whole of what he was and what he wrote came 
forth, like a flower from the seed, out of the one centre, 
the influence which Jesus exi pon him, during the 

three and a half years of His public ministry. Upon 
that the Spirit of God wrought, and the fruit is seen in the 
apostle. If John was such as he was because he learned 
of Jesus, how great and wonderful must Jesus Himself have 
been ! 

5. And then, lastly, looking at the four Gospels as they 
stand before us, so perfectly simple, inartistic, and truthful, 
in style and character, they must be admitted to bear 
witness to the greatness and authority of Jesus Christ. 
For had He been less, they would certainly have been more. 
If the writers had been dealing with materials which they 



THE GOSPELS BEAR WITNESS. 29 

felt were mingled with falsehood or uncertainty ; if they 
had been telling of facts which they themselves only half 
believed; or if they were conscious of exaggeration, of 
enthusiastic idealism, or of any other motive which led 
them to deal with what they had artificially, then we 
should trace their hand in the narrative quite distinctly, 
as we do in some of the classical historians, as Thucydides 
and Livy. But the Grospels seem to be the simplest possible 
records of what was remembered of Jesus and His teaching ; 
put together artlessly , and with apparent feeling of deep 
reverence and even self- distrust ; showing that the majesty 
and glory of Christ had impressed His disciples to such an 
extent that they would not dare to do more than describe 
the facts and record the words, some of which they plainly 
did not perfectly understand. The Divine authority of 
the Saviour shines through the oa^es of the evangelists, 
and they are His credentials. 



The Credentials of Christianity as the Religion 
of the Bible. 

It cannot be denied that if man needs a special Divine 
revelation, such a revelation will be given to him. The 
need is proved by the state of the world generally ; by the 
insufficiency of nature apart from such special revelation ; 
by the confusion and uncertainty in men's thoughts; by 
the corrupt character of those religions which were either 
entirely heathen or manifestly perversions of that which 
came with Divine authority, such as the degenerate 
Judaism of the Jewish Rabbinical schools, and Moham- 
medanism. It is reasonable that the Spirit of God should 
move and work with especial power and direct teaching 
somewhere in such a world, that there should be a true 
Light to be found in the midst of so much darkness and 
error. 



30 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

The history which we are able to connect with the 
writings of the Old and New Testaments sustains the 
claim which they make to be received as forming a con- 
tinuous course of special Divine communications, begin- 
ning in remote times, culminating in the personal advent 
of the Son of God and the foundation of the Christum 
Church. In that history there are miraculous events, like 
the deliverance of ancient Israel from Egypt, the return 
of the exiles from Babylon, and the Incarnation of the 
Son of God, which, like solid pillars, hold up the whole 
structure of Scripture. The facts and the words confirm 
one another. The same may be said of the prophetic 
portions of the Bible as compared with their fulfilments. 
The facts cannot be disputed ; the words can be proved in 
many cases to have been written before the facts ; they 
could not have been anticipations due to mere human 
wisdom and foresi^.jfc, they must have been the effects 
of the Divine Spirit working on the human spirit. More- 
over, such predictions follow one another age after age, 
from the remotest times down to the time of Christ ; and 
are connected with a line of good men w T ho appeared in 
one people and land, where very much of the Spirit of 
God manifested itself, and Divine teaching was much 
more abundant than elsewhere in the world. We may, 
therefore, reasonably conclude that the books which 
remain to us from the Jewish people, intimately connected 
together as they are by one unbroken line of truth and 
promise, which at last comes forth into full expression in 
Jesus Christ, are inspired of God ; that is, have been given 
to the world with His special authority attached to them, 
for the purpose of forming a depositary of religious 
doctrine, in which the true light can be found, and which 
"maketh wise unto salvation." 

There is no necessity, while accepting this position, to 
commit ourselves to any definite theory as to the method of 
inspiration. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved 



THEORIES OF INSPIRATION UNNECESSARY. 31 

by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. i. 21). The mode by which 
the Spirit wrought varied. Some writings were simply 
gathered together from the past; some were the fruit of 
immediate spiritual impulse; some were carefully thought 
out and prepared after long meditation. But the one 
important criterion of authority was the writer's obedience 
to a Divine command to set down that which was given 
to him by the Spirit. His own position as a man of God, 
and the acknowledgment of that position by the men of 
God around him and immediately after him, must be our 
warrant that he was not deceived, and that what he has 
written is sanctioned as Divine. It cannot be denied that 
both the ancient Jewish Church in receiving the books of 
the Old Testament, and the Christian Church m putting 
together the books of the New Testament, may have erred 
in part ; but it must not be taken for granted that they 
have done so Those who make the charge are bound to 
prove it. At present there are very few of the books of 
Scripture which have not commended themselves to the 
world as worthy of the place assigned them. It must also 
be admitted that the inspiration of Scripture cannot 
properly mean the mechanical dictation of the words, bat 
the presence and authority of the Spirit in the writings as 
a whole. We are not in possession of sufficient evidence 
to be able to prove that m every instance we have the 
exact words which were first written down. But the mind 
of the Spirit is preserved, and the end of revelation is 
reached, although uncertainty may rest upon the form in 
which it is conveyed. 

The credentials of the Bible are threefold: (i.) those 
which certify its authenticity ; (ii.) those which testify to 
its superhuman authority; fiii.) those w T hich prove its 
superiority as adapted to the spiritual wants of man. These 
we will briefly describe, reminding the reader that an 
outline of so large a subject is alone possible within our 
limited space. 



32 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

1. Credentials which certify the authenticity of the boohs 
of the Bible. 

The books bear upon the face of them the claim to be 
given with authority. In the Old Testament the books 
of Moses, i.e. the first fiYe books, are called the Law ; they 
were kept in the ark of the covenant as a witness (Deut. 
xxxi. 9, 26). Samuel wrote the manner of the kingdom, 
and laid it up before the Lord (1 Sam. x. 25). Solomon 
placed the books of Scripture in the new temple. The 
people are invited to " seek out of the booh of the Lord and 
read" (Isa. xxxiv. 16). Moreover, in several places it is 
prescribed as a duty to recite the Scriptures publicly, 
which implies their being preserved and authenticated. 
Then, again, the different parts of Scripture bear witness* 
to the rest — the later books to the earlier, the New 
Testament to the Old Testament. We may notice, too, 
such expressions as the following : " The Spirit of the 
Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue" 
(2 Sam. xxiii. 2); "Thus saith the Lord;" "The word 
of the Lord came unto me ; " " The mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it" (Jer. i. 6; Isa. vi. 9; Amos iii. 7). We 
know that the Jews were exceedingly careful of their 
sacred writings, and in remembrance of the injunction 
(Deut. iv. 2 ; xii. 32) could neither add to nor take from 
the written Word except under the manifest command of 
the Spirit. That our Lord Jesus Christ recognized the 
authority of the Old Testament is evident from such 
passages as John v. 39 ; Matt. xxii. 29 ; Luke xxiv. 27, 
and others. The New Testament writers frequently quote 
from the books of the Old Testament as the Word of God. 
By the side of this evidence from the books themselves 
may be placed the fact that a number of books, now 
collected in the Apocrypha, were in use among the Jews 
for centuries after the last of the prophets wrote, but 
were never regarded as sacred Scripture by the Jews of 
Palestine, nor by the New Testament writers. After the 



AUTHENTICITY OF THE SCRIPTURES* 33 

time of the return of the Jews from Babylon synagogue 
worship prevailed, and copies of the sacred books became 
common. The persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes 
(168 B.C.) promoted the preservation of that which main- 
tained the life of Judaism. It is known that from that 
time the books were put together as a single volume, and 
regarded as a Bible. The Greek translation of the Old 
Testament, called the Septuagint (made about 285 B.C.), 
probably included in the first form of it no more than the 
books which we acknowledge as the Word of God, though 
in subsequent editions other uninspired books were added. 
There can be no doubt that the Jewish schools of scribes 
gave the greatest attention to the preservation of the 
sacred books for many centuries. From the sixth to the 
ninth century of the Christian era the scholars called 
Masoretes, the authors of a collection of traditional read- 
ings called Masora, devoted themselves with immense 
learning and assiduity to ascertaining the exact text of 
the Old Testament; and they were followed by gram- 
marians and expositors who confirmed the results ob- 
tained by their predecessors. The testimony of individuals 
is also of great weight, as that of Josephus (a.d. 37-97), 
and that of Philo-Judasus, the Alexandrian, contemporary 
with our Lord ; both used the Old Testament as we now 
receive it, and never attached the authority of Scripture 
to the uninspired writings, such as are found in the 
Apocrypha. 

In the case of the New Testament the evidence is that 
of manuscripts, catalogues, versions, and quotations. Our 
manuscripts do not go back farther than the fourth 
century (the Sinaitic and the Vatican) ; others, such as 
the Alexandrian, in the British Museum, that of Ephraem, 
and that of Beza, are from the fifth to the seventh century. 
But while these copies of the original books were made 
centuries later than the books themselves, we possess early 
catalogues of the books of the New Testament, which show 

P 



34 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

what were in use, such as the " Muratorian Fragment" 
(a.d. 160-170), confirming most of the books. The 
Versions, or translations from the Greek into other lan- 
guages, are some of them very early, as the ancient Syriac 
or Peshito, in the second century, and the early Latin or 
Itala. And then, lastly, the writings of early Christian 
fathers contain quotations from the sacred books which, 
although loosely made, still substantially agree with our 
text of the Scriptures. This evidence can be followed in 
respect to each separate book of the New Testament, by 
consulting such a work as Alford's Greek Testament. In 
the case of the four Gospels, which is much the most 
important part of the subject, as the attacks of adverse 
critics have been chiefly directed to them, the labours of 
Br. Sanday, in his work on " The Gospels in the Second 
Century," have abundantly established the authenticity 
of our Gospels in substantially the same text as that we 
possess. The references to St. Paul's Epistles among the 
Christian writers of the second century are frequent, and 
it is impossible to doubt that most of them were at that 
time universally acknowledged to be genuine. No critic 
of any standing now hesitates to accept Romans, 1 and 2 
Corinthians, and Galatians. Marcion, the heretic, pub- 
lished a collection of sacred books, which he called " The 
Gospel" and "The Apostle" (Apostolicon), probably 
about a.d. 140, and in those books he confirms the use of 
the Gospel of Luke and of all the Epistles of St. Paul, 
except those to Timothy and Titus, and Hebrews. The 
heathen writer, Celsus, who lived probably about the 
same time, was familiar with the Gospels ; and another 
heathen writer, Lucian, refers to the writings of the 
apostle Paul. 

The most determined opposition of the unbelievers, 
however, has been to the fourth Gospel, partly, no doubt, 
from its character as bearing witness to the Divine 
authority of Jesus Christ. It has been asserted that the 



RATIONALISTIC SCHOOLS OF GERMANY. 35 

preface, or prologue, on the Word, or Logos (ch. i. 1-14), 
must have been written by an Alexandrian philosopher, 
and that the whole Gospel must have been put together 
some time in the second century. But when the question 
is asked, By whom? no name can be suggested. Justin 
Martyr evidently used it, and refers to it as part of Scrip- 
ture. No Christian would dare to forge the name of John 
the apostle. No heretic or unbeliever would be capable of 
composing such a work, neither could he have gained for 
it the authorization of the Christian Church of that time. 
Moreover, it should be remembered that the uncertainty, 
if any, ceases about a.d. 170, when the quotations from the 
Gospel, and references to it, became so abundant that no 
one can doubt that its authority was universally ac- 
knowledged. " The chain of evidence is complete and 
continuous. Not one historical doubt is raised from any 
quarter, and the lines of evidence converge towards the 
point where the Gospel was written, and from which it 
was delivered to the Churches " (Westeott, "Bible in the 
Church "). 

The rationalistic school of Germany, represented by 
Baur, Schenkel, Strauss, Keim, Hausrath, and others, have 
applied their own philosophical conceptions to the New 
Testament, and attempted to draw from it an explanation 
of the facts of early Christian history, without admitting 
miracles or the Divine character of Jesus Christ, but they 
have failed, either to meet the undoubted demands of 
historical consistency, or to put together a valid theory 
which commends itself to common sense. We cannot, 
in this place, describe their failure fully. The admixture, 
they are compelled to suppose, of conscious fraud and 
untruthfulness, in the Gospel narratives, cannot be re- 
conciled with the character of the first Christians, or 
with the spiritual power manifested in the early Church. 
The date of the New Testament is now ascertained to be 
at least within forty years of the death of Christ. That 



36 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

would not allow sufficient time for myths and legends and 
superstitious exaggerations to have grown up, as they 
suppose, around a small substratum of historical fact. It 
is certain that some disciples were alive when the Gospels 
were written ; and they could not have been deceived by 
idle tales and "cunningly devised fables" The apostle 
John lived to the end of the first century ; he would never 
have sanctioned the use of Gospels which falsified the facts. 
He himself wrote his own Gospel to supplement the other 
three, and that was a sufficient proof that he accepted 
them as an accurate account of the Lord's history, so far 
as they went. When he wrote his Gospel the Christian 
Church had been using the first three Gospels for many 
years ; and the substance of what they contained had been 
preached, over and over again, both by the apostles and by 
others, forming the foundation on which the communities 
of Christians had been built up. An attempt has been 
made, in the anonymous work, " Supernatural Religion," 
to invalidate the authority of the New Testament ; but 
it has signally failed The writer admits that his principal 
aim is to remove from Scripture all that bears witness to 
the supernatural, and to retain nothing beyond the general 
moral teaching which is included in Christianity. Such a 
spirit is not candid and fair. Let the writings be first 
proved authentic, and then let their teaching be studied 
in itself. Renan, the French critic, admits that he cannot 
overthrow the argument for the early date of the Gospels, 
while he refuses to accept the Christian Creed. His 
attempt to reconstruct the " Life of Jesus" and the history 
of the early Church, on the basis of his own conception of 
what must have been the facts, has only contributed to 
elucidate the superhuman element, by showing that it 
cannot be dispensed with. 

2. Credentials which certify the superhuman authority of 
the Bible. These may be summed up briefly, as follows : — (a) 
The books cover a period of fifteen hundred years ; during 



SUPERHUMAN AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE. «37 

the whole of that time there was a connected series of events 
with which the teaching of the Bible corresponds in a 
manner so remarkable that it could not be mere chance, 
must have been divinely appointed. There were miracles 
which were essentially included in these events, such as 
the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the establishment of 
the twelve tribes in Palestine, the ministries of Elijah and 
Elisha, the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, the 
advent of Jesus Christ, the ministry of the apostles. We 
cannot explain any one of these without the others ; the 
Bible is a series of writings closely connected together by 
a unity of purpose and meaning which reflects the unity of 
"providential appointment. The authority of the books, 
therefore, was not the authority of the writers alone, but 
of Him who ordered the events out of which the books 
came, of Him who maintained the continuous line of 
redeeming grace, which we can discern along the history 
of the people of Israel, from the time of Moses to the rise 
of the Christian Church, (b) There is a miraculous fore- 
sight in the predictions, which are found in most of the 
books of the Bible. Such predictions could not have been 
mere anticipations of the future by the power of human 
intellect; nor can we compare them with any merely 
human speculations on the tendencies of things, or heathen 
oracles, or wise forecas tings. They are clear and definite, 
and, as time went on, they became clearer and fuller, while 
preserving the same central meaning. The promise of a 
Kedeemer is found in the records of man's fall in Genesis ; 
it is repeated through all the books of the Old Testament ; 
and in the writings of the prophets, six hundred years 
before the advent of the Messiah, it is dwelt upon very 
largely, the person and the work of the Redeemer being 
described, and even the place where He should be born, 
and the time when He should appear. The prophecies 
which we find in Isaiah and Daniel and Micah, could not 
have been written had they not been preceded by others, 



38 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

such as we find in the Psalms, and in the Pentateuch. 
And if it be objected that we are apt to read into the words 
a deeper meaning than they were intended by the writers 
to convey, it should be remembered that the Messianic 
tradition was handed down among the Jews from the 
earliest times. Indeed, it may be said that the whole 
Mosaic system rested upon the promise of a Redeemer ; it 
was " a shadow of good, things to come." The people always 
expected a great prophet, who should effect for them a 
greater deliverance than that which rescued them from 
Egypt. The prophets called them from their idolatry and 
from their formality, not to a mere morality or a purer 
form of worship, but to wait for the appearing of the Messiah; 
hence, when Jesus came there was a prevalent expectation 
that prophecies were about to be fulfilled. We cannot, in 
this place, attempt to give examples of fulfilled predictions. 
The fact that the Bible is so full of prophecy, and that, at 
all events, the general scope and most essential meaning 
of such prophecies has been realized, proves that the books, 
written during fifteen hundred years, and all connected 
together by the one purpose of Redemption, could not 
have proceeded from human sources alone, (c) Putting 
the books of the Bible side by side with heathen and un- 
inspired writings of the same periods, and keeping in mind 
the circumstances in which the Jewish people were placed, 
it seems impossible to gainsay the superhuman origin of 
the sacred writings. There is an entire absence of supersti- 
tion, a perfect simplicity and purity of aim, a very elevated 
spiritual feeling in many places, a depth of meaning, wmich 
wonderfully contrasts with the superficiality and emptiness 
in most of the writings of the heathen world on moral 
subjects, and, above all, while reflecting the facts of Jewish 
history and life, a superiority to Jewish narrowness and 
bigotry. How is it that the very best of all the Jewish 
writings should be thus put together, and that nothing 
should be found mingled with them which is unworthy of 



THE BIBLE BETTER THAN HEATHEN WRITINGS. 39 

being preserved, so that the Old Testament and the New 
Testament confirm and vindicate one another in so marvel- 
lous a manner ? Can such a fact be explained except on 
the ground that the books were inspired; that a special 
providential guardianship watched over both the writers 
and that which they wrote ; and that the Spirit of God 
guided the minds of those to whom the writings were sent, 
that they should keep them uncorrupted and hand them 
down in their integrity, separated from the mass of error 
and folly surrounding them ? When we examine the 
books of heathen religions we find that, while the earliest 
are comparatively pure and lofty in their teaching, the 
later are full of corruption and superstition ; it is not so 
with the books of the Bible. The writings of the prophets 
were produced, many of them, in the most corrupt ages of 
the Jewish history ; but they bear witness to that corrup- 
tion only by reproving and condemning it. The religious 
practices of the Jews were superstitious and formal, in the 
days of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, but there is no 
departure in the words of the prophets from the original 
strictness of the Law ; «the aim of the later writers is to 
bring back the people to the faith from which they had 
fallen away, and hold up to view the purpose of Redeeming 
Love. So, again, in the Bible there is one consistent rule of 
moral doctrine in all the variety found there, from Moses 
to Christ ; but in heathen writings there is confusion and 
uncertainty : while in the highest specimens of philosophical 
thought, such as the writings of Plato, we find abundant 
evidences of the practical powerlessness of the religious 
systems out of which such writings sprang. The heathen 
writers, if they wrote noble and pure sentiments, proposed 
no remedies for the moral evils which their own writings 
admit to be prevalent around them. The Jewish writings 
not only condemn the evil, but promise deliverance from 
it. Such books were not the mere products of intellectual 
superiority and exceptional goodness in individuals; they 



40 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

point to the presence and work of the Spirit of God in a 
body of believers, preserved by special Divine grace in the 
midst of the nation. There is no such fact testified in the 
remains of heathen writings, such as we possess ; we may, 
therefore, fairly reason, that the Bible is the outcome ol 
an exceptional bestowment of spiritual communications, 
with which there is no parallel elsewhere in the world. 
[This view is very fully exemplified by Prof. Henry 
Rogers, in his work, " The Superhuman Origin of the 
Bible proved from Itself."] (d) The Bible culminates in 
Jesus Christ. It is authorized by its own completeness. 
It is not a mere aggregate of disconnected fragments. 
The books of the New Testament set before us a Divine 
F irson, a perfect rule of life, a body of doctrine, a way of 
. ilvation, leaving nothing to be added, in after times, in 
che form of revelation. Christianity is lot what un- 
inspired writers have chosen to represent it to be, or what 
may have been developed historically out of the first be- 
ginnings of the Christian Church, but what is embodied 
in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. The 
test of a practical application of that New Testament 
Christianity, suffices to show that the writings could not 
have proceeded from merely human sources. When we 
compare the books of the New Testament with those 
which were written only a few years, or a few generations, 
after the last of the apostles, St. John, was taken away, 
we recognize the immeasurable superiority of the sacred 
writings. Such a fact points to the completeness of the 
revelation in the ministries of Jesus Christ and His 
apostles. The Word of Life came in the Saviour Himself. 
Those who " saw with their eyes, beheld, handled with their 
hands, that ivhich was from the beginning " (1 John i. 1, 2), 
simply bore witness, expounding and declaring the Word. 
They added nothing to what Jesus Himself taught, but 
they unfolded it more explicitly. The kingdom of heaven 
was thus opened. When it was opened there was no 



THE BIBLE ADAPTED TO MAN. 41 

addition made to it. And that manifest completeness is 
itself a Divine evidence of the authority of that which 
makes up the whole. 

3. Credentials of the Bible in its adaptation to the 
spiritual wants of man, 

No religion can meet such wants which is not mani- 
festly above the level of ordinary human life in its moral 
and spiritual teaching. There must not only be some 
elements of higher doctrine included in it, but there must 
be no compromise of moral truth and law to suit the weak- 
ness and corruption of men. Heathen religions have failed 
to elevate mankind, because they were impure and re- 
flected men's own evil tendencies. 

(I.) Substance. There must be in that which professes 
to come with Divine authority, (i.) a representation of the 
character and ways of God which leads man to a pure and 
spiritual worship; (ii.) a declaration of the will and law of 
God such as confirms the dictates of the moral nature and 
purges the conscience from dead works ; (iii.) a proclama- 
tion of peace and reconciliation, opening the way to a 
cheerful and grateful obedience to Divine commandments ; 
(iv.) a promise of new strength and happiness, to en- 
courage the weak and to animate the heart with hope in 
anticipation of the future. All these are found in the 
Bible, and are certainly not found elsewhere. 

(II.) Form. The book which meets the spiritual wants 
of man must be one which comes to him in &form adapted 
to touch his sympathies and win his confidence. It must not 
be in a philosophical shape, otherwise the few alone will 
understand it, and the many will remain indifferent to it. 
It must not be a mere collection of moral sayings, otherwise 
it will become antiquated, and fail to touch the heart. It 
must not be the product of mere human genius, either of 
one mind or of many minds, speaking only from them- 
selves, for then it would be apt to be eclipsed or super- 
seded by other similar productions in the course of time. 



42 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

It ought to be mainly historical; it should describe the 
facts of Divine dealing with mankind; it should appeal 
from human experience to human experience ; and it should 
be written by men of like passions and infirmities with 
others, so that its language shall be the language of 
common life, and yet, as used by those who themselves 
were filled with the Spirit of God, language steeped in 
spiritual meaning and reality. And, lastly, there must be 
in the book which claims to be Divine in its authority, a 
breadth and universality which adapts it to all classes and 
conditions of men. It must come out of a particular 
nation, otherwise it would lack definiteuess and decision ; 
but it must not inculcate a merely national religion. It 
must bear upon its surface the marks of its origin as a 
historical religion ; but the substance of it must be so 
thoroughly human and cosmopolitan, that the merely super- 
ficial features, which may be reflections of a time and 
people gone by, can be set aside for the sake of that which 
is essential. 

Now, if we examine any of the heathen systems, or 
Mohammedanism, we find that there is very little in them 
which can be adapted to universal use. They are so 
full of that which is sprung from human error, custom, 
superstition, and local prejudice, that to attempt to make 
them cosmopolitan would be an utter failure. But while 
the Bible is from the Jews, and describes Jewish history 
and Jewish law, and the faith which grew up in Palestine, 
still it is pervaded, from beginning to end, with a spirit 
of humanity and universalism : it proclaims, from the first, 
a message of salvation for all the families of the earth; 
it describes a Divine method of procedure, which led to 
the preaching of the gospel to all the world ; and it- 
concludes with a prediction of universal blessedness. 
Moreover, it is a fact, that men of " every nation under 
heaven" have accepted this message of life; and that 
the religious character which has grown up from this 



UNIVERSALITY OF THE BIBLE. 43 

same seed of Bible truth, sown in all parts of the world, 
corresponds, in the main elements of it, notwithstanding 
all the variety of nationality and external circumstances. 
The true believer in the Bible is everywhere substantially 
the same, that is, a man somewhat resembling Jesus Christ, 
whose character, it is admitted on all hands, was perfection. 
The book which by its influence tends to produce men a'nd 
women like Jesus Christ carries its own authority with it. 
Nor will it avail the objector to set over against this 
evidence the imperfections and inconsistencies of professed 
Christians. For they themselves will be the first to admit 
that they are faulty representatives of the Bible. A law is 
not invalidated by the fact that those who live where it is 
acknowledged are condemned by it. Even though the law 
should fail of vindication for lack of external authority, 
that would not prove that the law itself was not good. 
That the Bible has not yet accomplished its work in the 
world is no argument against its Divine origin We are 
poor judges of the course of events. The influences which 
we are unable to trace sometimes reveal themselves where 
we thought they were not ; and issues come forth which 
astonish us, because we have not known that they were 
being prepared. The Bible-lands, where the authority 
of the Scriptures is acknowledged, Europe, Australia, 
America, the islands of the Pacific, and the countries 
where Christian missionaries have planted the gospel, 
contain the best specimens of humanity and lead the 
world in all that is great and good. No other religion has 
produced such men, or is able to produce them. 



The Credentials of Christianity as the Religion 
of the Christian Church. 

The word " Church " may be differently defined ; but 
there are included in it the following chief facts : (i.) 
the meeting together from time to time for religious 



44 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

worship of those who hold certain common beliefs ; (ii.) 
the public profession of faith on the part of individuals, 
separating themselves from others who make no such 
profession, and making their profession of faith the basis 
of their life; (iii.) observance of two leading rites, bap- 
tism and the Lord's Supper — the one representing the 
commencement of the Christian life, and the other fel- 
lowship and faithfulness. We need not go farther in 
describing the Christian Church. All questions of creed 
and Church government may be left unanswered in this 
argument. It is certain that there were many corruptions 
of doctrine and practice, which grew up in the course 
of the centuries after the time of the apostles. They 
attached themselves firmly to the systems which Tvere 
maintained among Christians ; but it does not follow 
that they were in any proper sense to be ascribed to the 
Christian Church, as Christ Himself founded it in the 
world. What we must insist upon, however, is this, that 
(i.) there was a living root of Christianity growing, before 
there were false growths attached to it ; (ii.) that the 
Church of the Middle Ages could not have existed had it 
not been preceded by the Church of the first three centuries; 
and (iii.) that the Church of the second and third centuries, 
while including in itself very much that was due to the 
men and the times through which it lived, and much 
which was not properly sanctioned by Christ, could not 
have existed had it not been preceded by the Church of the 
apostles and their contemporaries. We can fairly separate, 
therefore, the apostolic elements in the faith and practice 
of Christendom from the rest, and trace them back to 
the first beginnings of Christianity ; and the result of that 
process is to prove that all that is essential to the Christian 
religion is historically confirmed ; and that beyond all 
reasonable doubt. 

1. The Emperor Constantine was converted to Chris- 
tianity about a.d. 312. He made Christianity the religion 



THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 45 

of the Roman Empire. He could not have done so had 
there not been at that time a body of doctrine and a 
customary form of worship which were identified with the 
name of Christians. However we describe the Christian 
Church of Constantine's time, it is certain that the 
following leading features of it came down from the days 
of the apostles : (i.) Jesus Christ was believed to be the 
Saviour of the world, and the representation given of Him 
in the New Testament was generally accepted, (ii.) The 
two Christian rites of baptism and the Lord's Supper were 
observed from the beginning, and were taken to mean 
a new birth and a new life, which new birth and new life 
are taught in the New Testament. Whether the views 
held of the rites corresponded with those taught by the 
apostles or not, it does not concern us to decide. The 
fact of the continued observance of the rites can only be 
accounted for by the tradition which came down from 
the time of Christ, (iii.) The really devout and sincere 
Christians were remarkable for their self-denial, bene- 
volence, and hopefulness, and were distinguished by their 
moral character generally, from their contemporaries ; 
they professed to follow the example of Jesus Christ and 
the rule laid down in the New Testament ; and many of 
them died to prove their faithfulness to the Christian 
standard. They could not have learned such a life from 
the example of their neighbours, nor from the writings 
of heathen teachers, which, while they, in some cases, 
inculcated moral goodness, fell very far short of the New 
Testament. Now, it must be remembered that, while in 
three centuries Christians multiplied to such an extent 
that at last the very Empire of Rome itself became 
nominally Christian, still there was nothing to account 
for this spread of Christianity but the fact that men were 
persuaded to accept it ; that is to say, the influence of the 
facts and doctrines obtained power oyer their thoughts and 
lives : as Gibbon, the sceptical historian, has expressed it, 



46 r RIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

" a pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into 
the minds of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived 
new vigour from opposition, and finally erected the trium- 
phant banner of the Cross on the ruins of the Cajntol." It 
may be quite true that God prepared the way for this 
triumph of Christianity, both by the rain of the heathen 
world and by the work of His Spirit in many different 
forms upon the thoughts of men ; but the fact remains 
indisputable that there could not have been the spread 
of the doctrine unless the doctrine had been in existence, 
and had come down from the time of the apostles, and 
unless the foundation of historical truth had been first 
laid in the events of the Saviour's history. 

2. The Christian Church of the second century bears 
abundant witness to the truth and authenticity of the 
New Testament Scriptures. We select out of a great 
many instances a few which will serve to show that those 
Scriptures were known and read in different parts of the 
world, e.g. Asia Minor, Italy, France, and Syria. 

(i.) Asia Minor. We open the writings of Justin 
Martyr, who was born about a.d. 87 at Flavia Neapolis (now 
Kablous near the ancient Sychem) in Palestine, and lived 
much of his life in Ephesus, where the apostle John 
taught, and which was a kind of capital city, commanding 
by its influence an immense district of Asia ; in these 
writings we find abundant evidence that the Gospels 
were familiarly known and the Scriptures of the Old 
and New Testaments read. Justin defends the Christians 
from the false charges made against them to the Roman 
emperors of that time (Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius). 
The date of these writings is about A.D. 150. So that a 
writer in the midst of the second century bears witness to 
the use of the Scriptures in Asia Minor at that time. He 
points to fulfilment of ancient prophecy in Jesus Christ, 
and describes fully the two Christian rites of baptism and 
the Lord's Supper, and the meetings held on the Lord's 



EVIDENCE OF THE SECOND CENTURY. 47 

day. He holds a dialogue with a Jew, Trypho, in which he 
quotes largely from the Old Testament, and compares it 
with the records of the Gospels. He refers to all the facts 
of the Lord's life and death. He confirms all the four 
Gospels, more or less distinctly. He mentions some of the 
other books of the New Testament, as e.g. Revelation, 
Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, 
Hebrews, Acts ; everywhere he shows that he is familiar 
with the writings of St. Paul, with his doctrine and with 
his language. The following is the summary, given "by a 
learned writer, of his evidence as regards Christianity : 
" Throughout, Justin claims to possess, and to show forth, 
with a certainty attested by sacrifice and death, a solid 
body of certified doctrine, which apostolic authority sealed 
and secured ; Christ, as He had been foretold by prophets 
and announced to the world by apostles, is the assured 
ground of his faith. The apostles are the twelve bells on 
the border of the high priest's garment, with the sound of 
whose ringing the whole world has been filled (see Dial. 
42, § 263, c.) ; the apostles are the evangelical preachers 
in whose person Isaiah cried, i Lord, who hath believed our 
report ? ' the apostles are 4 the brethren in the midst of 
whom ' Christ gives praise unto God." This testimony 
then suffices to show that in the middle of the second 
century the Scriptures were familiarly used and universally 
acknowledged in Asia Minor. 

(ii.) Rome and Italy. There is clear proof that, about 
a.d. 154, Marcion, the son of the bishop of Sinope, came to 
Rome and had an interview there with Poly carp. Marcion 
rejected the orthodox creed in some of its doctrines, and 
was particularly opposed to the teaching of the Old Testa 
ment. He was regarded as a dangerous heretic ; but 
obtained very great influence at Rome and elsewhere. 
He drew up two volumes of sacred writings, the one of 
which he called " The Gospel," and the other "The 
Apostle." The former is founded upon our present Gospel 



48 TEIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

of Luke, and the latter includes all the Epistles of Paul, 
except 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus ; he also excludes 
Hebrews, and the other books of the Xew Testament. 
But it is well known that he rejected these books not 
because he did not know of their existence, but because 
he could not make them agree with his doctrine. It is 
quite certain that the sacred books which Marcion thus 
mutilates and puts together for his own purposes had been 
in use among Christians long before, He would not have 
given them such titles, "Gospel" and "Apostle," unless 
they had been acknowledged. His readings of St. Luke's 
Gospel show that it had been long enough in existence, 
and had been copied so often, that different types of text 
had had time to establish themselves, and corruptions of 
the original Gospel had been transmitte 1 through the 
copies ; to admit of this taking place, we must suppose at 
least some fifty years to have passed by, so that we are 
brought to the end of the first century, and close to the 
time of the apostles. This evidence from the writings of 
Marcion is so clear and strong that no candid mind can 
resist it. 

(iii.) France. Irenceus was bishop of Lyons about the 
same time or a little later. He was a native of Asia Minor ; 
had seen and heard Polycarp of Smyrna, the disciple of 
St. John, in his youth ; was presbyter of Lyons in a.d. 177, 
and carried thence a letter from the Christians there to 
Rome, and was made bishop of Lyons in the same year. 
He was born about a.d. 126. He therefore represents 
the beliefs and customary ideas of Christians during the 
first half of the second century. We find m his writings 
a very explicit account of Christian doctrine and practice, 
which he expounds in opposition to Gnostic heresies pre- 
vailing at that time. There are several names which may 
be mentioned together as nearly contemporary, and they 
represent the widespread belief of the growing Christian 
Church in Italy, France, and Africa, all in virtual agree- 



EVIDENCE OF THE SECOND CENTURY. 49 

ment as to fundamental doctrine, and especially as to the 
use of the Scriptures. These names are Irenasus, Ter- 
tullian, Cyprian, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, and 
Origen. No one can refuse to accept the bulk of their 
works as genuine and authentic, and the testimony which 
they bear to the Scriptures is overwhelming. They were 
quite familiar with the Old and New Testaments, and 
substantially as we now possess them. 

(iv.) Syria and the East. A very remarkable confir- 
mation of the spread of Christianity in the second century 
is found in the writings of a man who never renounced 
heathenism, though he was evidently a sceptic and un- 
believer in religion generally. Lucian, the wit and satirist, 
was born at Samosata on the Euphrates, not far from the 
confines of Cilicia, and, therefore, from the apostle Paul's 
birthplace, Tarsus, about A.D. 120. He was in Greece in 
a.d. 165, and witnessed there a strange scene, which he de- 
scribes — the self-immolation by fire of a renegade Christian 
named Peregrinus, who was challenged by his enemies to 
offer himself up as a sacrifice in the flames, and in a fit of 
fanaticism did so. In describing this man's history, Lucian 
refers to the Christians and to their writings in the most 
remarkable manner, to their simple worship and to their 
benevolent and self-denying lives. He says that "the 
leader of the Christians, whom they yet adore, was crucified 
in Palestine, for introducing this new sect." And after 
relating instances of the generosity and charitableness of 
the Christians, and how they sent their deputies from 
cities of Asia to give assistance where it was required, he 
adds, " These poor men, it seems, had persuaded them- 
selves that they should be immortal and live for ever. 
They despised death, therefore, and offered up their lives 
a voluntary sacrifice, being taught by their lawgiver that 
they were all brethren, and that, quitting our Grecian 
gods, they must worship their own sophist, who was 
crucified, and live in obedience to his laws. In compliance 



50 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

with, these they looked with contempt on all worldly 
treasures, and held everything in common — a maxim which 
they had adopted wdthout reason and foundation." It is 
very remarkable that this heathen writer, who lived in 
the middle of the second century, not only bears witness 
to the fact that Christians were spread through Asia, but 
that they were such as the early Christians w r ere in the 
time of the apostles, and that they possessed sacred 
writings, which they valued, and by the rule of which 
they lived. It seems not unlikely that the story of the 
renegade Proteus Peregrinus may have been a witty satire 
of Lucian's on the martyrdom of Polycarp ; but the evidence 
remains unshaken, and Lucian brings no charge of any kind 
against the Christians, except their simplicity and guile- 
lessness. Such a man could not have so written had not 
Christianity been widely diffused at the time, and had not 
the Scriptures been in general use among the Christians. 

We may place beside this evidence of the heathen 
writer that of the Christian bishop and martyr of Antioch, 
Ignatius (about A.D. 120 ; some say he was martyred under 
Trojan, a.d. 115), whose writings still, in part, remain. 
It is thought by some that Lucian knew them, and refers 
to them in writing of Peregrinus. There are several 
epistles which bear his name which are much doubted, 
and the controversv as to the genuineness of all is con- 
tinued as yet without decisive settlement ; but three at 
least are admitted by most critics. Dr. Lightfoot dates 
them a.d. 107 to 115. A Greek collection of seven, called 
"Vossian," is also admitted to be genuine by many. It 
dates from the middle of the second century. Ignatius 
certainly bears witness to the existence of Christians in 
Asia, and to the facts of Christianity. There are few 
quotations of any sort in his writings ; but such as there 
are point to the use of our Gospels and of the Old Testa- 
ment at the beginning of the second century. Taken in 
connection with the other writings of what are called 



THE WITNESS OF THE CHURCH. 51 

the apostolical fathers, Polycarp, Clement of Rome, 
Hermas, and others, we find a very distinct testimony, 
going back into the first century, to the principal facts of 
the Gospels, and to the existence of the Christian Church, 
as well as to the use of the Old Testament Scriptures 
among the Christians. 

3. At the end of the first century there was a 
Christian Church spread through Western Asia, North 
Africa, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, and France. The 
Christians of these countries read the four Gospels and 
the Epistles of Paul. These Christian writings bear 
witness to the truth of the facts on which Christianity 
is founded. It is an undisputed fact that there were folsa 
Gospels in existence, and that there were writings which 
were put forth in the names of apostles. But they were 
not received by the Christian people generally. There 
is nothing which can be regarded as part of the false 
Gospels to be found in those which we now receive, and 
which we know were received in the second century. 
Even when the four Gospels are not mentioned, the sub- 
stance of them is confirmed in writers of that time. The 
representation of the character and teaching of Jesus 
Christ is in accordance with that in the New Testament. 
As already observed in another place, there is abundant 
evidence of the observance of the two ordinances of the 
Christian Church, baptism and the Lord's Supper. In 
baptism a confession of faith was made which included 
faith in the Divine character and mission of Jesus Christ. 
The ordinance of the Lord's Supper pointed solemnly to 
the facts on which Christianity rests — the crucifixion, the 
resurrection, and the ascension, as well as to the continued 
existence of the Christian Church. " It would have been 
in the highest degree difficult, " says Prebendary Row 
(in his " Bampton Lectures," lect. v.), " not to say im- 
possible, during the brief interval between our Lord's 
ministry and the end of the first century, to have imposed 



52 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

on any community of Christians a mass of legendary 
matter of a character wholly different from those facts 
on the belief in which the Church was originally founded, 
and which formed the moving spring of the daily life 
of the individual members, and which many of them had 
accepted as the ground of their conversion. It is abso- 
lutely impossible that communities like the Churches of 
the first century, living in a state of constant antagonism 
to their Jewish and pagan neighbours, and having to 
justify to themselves the grounds on which they had 
abandoned their former beliefs, could have become ob- 
livious of those facts which had induced them to accept 
Jesus as the Messiah, and which had ever since formed 
the foundation of their religious life." The theories 
which have been put forth by such men as Strauss in 
Germany, and Renan in France, which would remove 
from the beginning of Christianity all the supernatural 
elements and leave nothing but the superior wisdom and 
high moral and spiritual character of Jesus Christ, will 
not bear examination in view of indisputable facts. It 
would then be necessary to assume that the apostles and 
their contemporaries inserted such miraculous facts into 
the Gospels. But if they did so it was either because 
they themselves were deceived or because they desired 
to deceive others. The existence and growth of the 
Christian Church in the first century, when it was com- 
paratively free from error ancL corruption, and when it was 
opposed by Jews and pagans alike, cannot be explained 
on any other supposition than the sincerity and truth- 
fulness of the first disciples. This is abundantly proved 
by Archdeacon Paley in his " Evidences of Christianity." 
Taking the Epistles of St. Paul as evidence of the kind 
of faith which was put in Christ and urged upon mankind 
by Christian teachers, what do we find in them ? We 
find that when the apostle is writing to those who believed 
in his authority he says very little about miracles, because 



THE WITNESS OF THE CHURCH. 53 

he knew that they were believed in by those to whom 
he wrote ; but when he is meeting the objections and 
doubts of those who opposed him he boldly appeals to 
miracles. He was not the kind of man to be deceived. 
He had been an open and avowed enemy of the Christians, 
and it was on the ground of a miraculous appearance 
of the risen Saviour that he stood as a believer in that 
gospel which once he sought to destroy. Would not the 
Jewish nation have gladly silenced the apostle Paul, had 
they been able to do so ? Yet they never attempted to 
answer him ; and his Epistles remain, most of them 
undoubtedly genuine, even though some few be still dis- 
puted by the critics, proving, with the utmost clearness, 
that, at the time when he wrote — that is, about thirty 
years after the death of Jesus Christ — the principal facts 
of the gospel were well known and accredited everywhere. 
It will not be necessary here to repeat what has been said 
of the facts of the Resurrection. That is the corner-stone 
of apostolic belief. It is the principal miracle recorded, 
and as such carries with it the verification of others 
which are closely connected with it. No one can deny 
that about the middle of the first century, not only 
apostles but Christians generally, over a vast extent of 
the world, believed in the Resurrection. The worship 
of the Church, was identified with it. The first day of 
the week was observed as a commemoration of it. The 
whole structure of the Christian society rested upon it 
as a basis. Moreover, it is easy to trace the belief to 
Jerusalem, where the event occurred. It was not an idea 
which arose in the mind of a writer far off from the scene; 
nor was it a myth, or legend which grew up gradually 
as time removed the facts further and further away. 
It was the belief with which the disciples started in the 
work of the Christian Church before the conversion of 
St. Paul. And the narrative shows clearly that it was 
no hallucination or deliberate invention, for it took the 



54 TKIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

disciples by surprise. They believed not at first, and only 
the irresistible force of the evidence removed their doubts. 
Thus the credentials of Christianity, which are derived 
from the Christian Church itself, are sound historical 
proof. TTe may fairly challenge the unbeliever to give 
any account of the existence of the Church which can be 
reconciled with any other statement of the facts. It is 
impossible to believe that a religion which is so super- 
human in its character and so wonderful in its history 
originated in delusion and fraud. We are bound to accept 
the writings of the apostles and evangelists as dt-scribing 
the true beginning of Christianity uutil they are proved 
to be false, which they never have been and never will be. 



The Credentials of Christianity as the Religion 
of the Christian Man. 

^W may put aside all ancient documents, and all 
speculative difficulties, and consider facts which come 
under our own observation, or which are matter of 
acknowledged, world-wide evidence. There is Chris- 
tianity not only in books but in men. The credentials 
of the religion may be sought, in personal character and 
personal history. We will very briefly indicate some of 
the heads of this argument from the practical eifects of the 
truth in heart and life. 

1. A Christian man, that is, one who reflects in his 
character and actions the teaching of Christianity, is 
morally and spiritually higher than any <:ther. Apart from 
all religion, we have reason to believe that there can be 
no moral goodness maintained in man generally ; and 
looking at the religions which have existed and do still 
exist, there is no comparison between their practical 
influence and that of Christianity. This is admitted by 
men of the highest intellectual power. Mr. John Stuart 



THE CHRISTIAN MAN. 55 

Mill has said that "it would not be easy for an unbeliever 
to find a better translation of the rule of virtue from the 
abstract into the concrete, than to endeavour so to live 
that Christ would approve our life." That is the rule of 
the Christian. Mr. W. E. H. Lechy makes a similar 
admission : " It was reserved for Christianity to present 
to the world an ideal character, which, through all the 
changes of eighteen centuries, has filled the hearts of men 
with an impassioned love, and has shown itself capable 
of acting in all ages, nations, temperaments, and con- 
ditions ; has not only been the highest pattern of virtue, 
but the highest incentive to its practice ; and has exerted 
so deep an influence, that it may be truly said, that the 
simple record of three short years of active life has done 
more to regenerate and to soften mankind than all the 
disquisitions of philosophers and than all the exhortations 
of moralists. This indeed has been the well-spring of 
whatever has been best and purest in the Christian life. 
Amid all the sins and failings, amid all the priestcraft, 
the persecution and fanaticism which have defaced the 
Church, it has preserved, in the character and example 
of its Founder, an enduring principle of regeneration. " 
That Christian character and life have been the fruit of 
the gospel ever since the time of Christ cannot be denied. 
The change which is called Conversion, and which is so 
named in the New Testament, is witnessed among living 
men and women. It is very wonderful, and cannot be 
explained by any common laws of human thought and 
feeling. It is produced, so far as the means which we can 
employ are concerned, by the simple, earnest, and affec- 
tionate preaching of the gospel, especially by setting 
Christ Himself before the soul. With all the imperfections 
of Christians there is reality in the practical religion 
which they profess. They do, in innumerable instances, 
deny themselves for others ; live unspotted from the 
world ; control their passions and temper ; seek after 



56 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

tlie higher things of God ; and try to follow the rules 
which their Saviour has laid down for them. The same 
gospel is carried out into heathen lands and produces 
marvellous effects there, delivering men from their 
superstitions ; lifting them out of physical and moral 
degradation ; putting them on the way of advancement 
and social amelioration ; and changing them from enemies 
of one another to become messengers of peace and good 
will to one another. It has beeu remarked by Professor 
Vinet, that " the Christian religion, like all other beliefs, 
renders homage to a want of the human soul, and — what 
no other belief has yet done — that it has satisfied this 
want ; it has an intensity, a generality of application, an 
elevation of tendency, and, in fine, a certainty w T hich no 
other possesses ; in all these respects it presents a type of 
perfection which has never been realized in any human 
invention : and if God Himself has given a faith to the 
world, it is impossible that He should have given a better 
in any respects. After this it would appear quite super- 
fluous to inquire if the Christian religion is true. This 
proof is sufficient." Now there are teachers in our times, 
who maintain that there is no need of a religion like 
Christianity in order to produce great moral changes, 
both in individuals and in society — teachers such as Mr. 
Matthew Arnold, Mr. Frederick Harrison, and some of 
the continental theorists. But they fail to show that 
any such views as they represent could be preached as a 
gospel, whereby the masses could be lifted up. They talk 
of ideas, as though they could touch the heart. Expe- 
rience shows that the preaching of morality without 
religion is powerless. It may help those that are well 
trained and disciplined to be steadfast to their principles, 
but it cannot heal the wounded conscience and recover 
the fallen out of their misery. Men may be aesthetically 
cultured, highly civilized, touched with sentiments of 
courtesy and gentleness, " sweetness and light ;" but there 



TESTIMONIES OF SAINTS. 57 

is something deeper and larger than these things required 
for the hard conflicts of daily life. Nothing but the 
power of Love, the Love of God, can overcome the evil 
of the human heart. And there is no religion and no 
moral system where Love is the ruling principle, except 
Christianity. The speculations and dreams of mere 
thinkers may please the fancy, but they cannot redeem 
the soul. 

2. We may seek the credentials of Christianity, again, 
in the testimonies of eminent saints. It will not be necessary 
to enumerate many of these, but a few may be recalled 
to the reader's recollection. The life and labours of the 
apostle Paul have often been referred to as sealing the 
truth of the gospel. Two young men imbued with 
sceptical opinions agreed together to write each a learned 
attack upon some portion of Christianity. One selected 
the Resurrection as his subject, the other the conversion 
and character of St, Paul. Both were convinced of their 
errors by their studies. Gilbert West wrote an able book 
on the Resurrection ; Lord Lyttleton his " Observations 
on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul," in which 
he shows that such a character could not have been 
formed upon any other foundation than fact and verity. 
There are many such in the early Church, " men who 
hazarded their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus 
Christ," and "of whom the world was not worthy." We 
must expect, of course 1 , that the peculiar features of the 
Christianity of the Catholic Church should in some in- 
stances remove such men from ourselves in some respects, 
but no such differences can hide from us most dis- 
tinguished moral features — heroic self-devotion and 
unworldliness, and, in many cases, simplicity and purity 
almost supernatural. Patrick (born a.d. 372 in the village 
of Bonvola, now Kilpatrick, near Glasgow) was converted 
to God in his seventeenth year. He was carried away 
by pirates, and sold into the service of a Scottish chief, 



58 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

who employed liim as a herdsman. Trouble led his heart 
to God. " God opened," he says, " my unbelieving mind 
so that, although late, I thought of my sins and turned 
with my whole heart to the Lord my God, to Him who 
looked down on my low condition, had pity on my youth 
and ignorance, and before I knew Him, before I could 
distinguish between good and evil, guarded, protected, 
and cherished me as a father his son." He became very 
devout and prayerful. After many sufferings he gave 
himself up to be a preacher of the gospel to the semi- 
barbarous Irish, in a.d. 431. He was opposed by the 
priests and national bards, but "he conquered by stead- 
fastness of faith, by glowing zeal, and by the attractive 
power of love." He was the means of multitudes turning 
to God, and lived a simple, abstemious, self-denying life 
of a missionary. There were others of a very similar 
character to Patrick, who showed by their devoted ness 
that there was power in Christianity to exalt human nature 
to the highest efforts and sacrifices ; such as Gallus the 
apostle of Switzerland, Boniface the apostle of the Ger- 
mans, Gregory the abbot of Utrecht, Bernard of Clairvaux, 
St. Xavier and others who, while they had less enlighten- 
ment than some who lived in the times when Roman error 
w T as thrown off, still were under the influence of Christian 
motives, and displayed wonderful energy and self-forget- 
fulness in the work of preaching. When we come to the 
times of the Reformation we are in the midst of moral 
greatness and spiritual heroism. Martin Luther himself 
was a character such as nothing but Christianity could 
have produced. His love of truth, his confidence in God, 
his unselfishness, his mingled strength and affectionateness, 
his purity and unworldliness, all testify to the Divine 
worth of the religion whose champion he was. The 
Reformers were all very Luther-like men, almost without 
exception. Their faults were due either to ordinary 
human infirmity or to the imperfect knowledge and 



TESTIMONIES OF SAINTS. 59 

culture of their age. Their Christianity was not eclipsed 
by their imperfections. It lifted them to a very great 
height of moral attainment and excellence. John Btcnyan, 
author of the " Pilgrim's Progress," is another conspicuous 
instance of Divine grace which testifies to the truth of 
the religion in which he believed. He was rescued from 
a life of immorality and blasphemy, and became a preacher 
of the gospel. He suffered imprisonment for conscience' sake 
for twelve years, and not only endured patiently the per- 
secutions and wrongs of enemies, but sent forth out of his 
prison the book which has flowed like a stream of living 
water ever since, reviving and refreshing multitudes, and 
helping them on their way to a better world. Daring the 
eighteenth century there were many remarkable instances of 
religious character, such as bear powerful witness to Chris- 
tianity, particularly in connection with the rise of Methodism 
in England and the contemporary work which went on in 
Germany and America. Wesley, Whitefield, Fletcher of 
Madeley, the Countess of Huntingdon, Count Zinzendorf, 
Brainerd, John Howard, and others like them, were 
eminent examples of devotion and philanthropy which 
illustrate the power of the Christian religion. Immediately 
after the work of spiritual revival which awoke the Christian 
Church to feel its responsibility, commenced the efforts of 
modern Protestant missions, both in foreign lands and 
in the dense populations of our own country. It is im- 
possible to think of such lives as have been lived during the 
last hundred years by missionaries and evangelists and not 
acknowledge that Christian men bear witness to Chris- 
tianity. 

3. But the great practical test of a religion is its adap- 
tation to the wants of man in the time of trouble, and its 
power to triumph over death. In both these respects there 
is no comparison between Christianity and other religions, 
and between faith and unbelief. We can appeal to the 
language of the Bible, which, as adapted to soothe and 



60 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

comfort, is incomparably superior to all other words of 
man's. TTe can point to the instances of the martyrs, 
and those "who through faith obtained the victory over 
personal suffering and the fear of death. While it cannot 
be denied that heroism has been witnessed apart from 
Christianity; — as, among the heathen, in the case of Socrates 
dying calmly as a philosopher, and in many other cases, 
where wonderful moral courage was manifested and great 
endnrance in suffering; and among those who cannot be 
^said to have derived their strength from religious feeling, 
as in many cases of noble self-devotion in the battle-field, 
in the struggle of daily life, in circumstances of extreme 
danger such as shipwreck and other sudden calamities, in 
the endurance of pain and in facing distress and death ; — 
still it must be remembered that what Christianity claims 
to be able to do is to raise humanity itself out of weakness 
into strength, and out of the misery of sin into peace and 
victory over self. The testimonies which may be gathered 
from Christians are not exceptional and rare, but common 
and almost universal. The weak are made strong, the 
fearful are made courageous, the sufferers are made patient, 
and the dying are victorious over natural feelings, by their 
faith in Jesus Christ. " Soon after the American war 
broke out," says Mr. Moody, the great evangelist, "it 
pleased God to call me to work among the w^ounded and 
dying. There I saw plenty of death ! And now I know 
there is a difference between the latter end of the righteous 
and the sinner. 1 have heard screams of despair from 
those who were without hope. And I have also witnessed 
scenes of calm, placid death, even of joyous triumphant 
departure to be with Christ, on the part of those who had 
their feet on the Rock of Ages. And now I tell you there 
is a difference, a great difference, as much difference as 
between day and night, or as between light and darkness." 
Every Christian minister wull testify that there is this 
difference. While all death-beds of believers are not 



CHRISTIANITY REDEEMS THE WORLD. 61 

scenes of triumph, none are scenes of despair and terror, or 
sullen indifference and hard-heartedness. On the other 
hand, without faith in Christ trouble is apt to destroy the 
higher qualities of the soul, to produce evil in the temper 
and in the life, and to become a curse instead of, as it may 
be, a blessing in disguise. 



What Christianity is to the World. 

This subject requires a separate treatment because it is 
brought out into special prominence by the questions and 
tendencies of our time. The adaptation of a religion to the 
wants of an individual man may be admitted, and yet it 
may be regarded as unsocial in its character. There have 
been times when Christianity seemed to stand in the way of 
human progress, as a whole. There are some who bring 
the same charge against it now. They openly teach that 
to shut up Christian churches and to destroy their institu- 
tions would be to facilitate and accelerate the advancement 
of the human race, in knowledge and power and happiness. 
As to the testimony of the past, it must be remembered 
that the forms which Christianity has taken, at different 
times, have been largely the outcome of the state of the 
world. The corruptions of society have influenced the 
minds of religious men. They have erred, often, in their 
methods ; but their errors ■ have not been derived from 
Christ, but from those who misunderstood Christ, or from 
the influence of surrounding circumstances. The Church of 
Rome is no true representative of Christianity. No Church, 
as a visible institution, can be taken as exactly reflecting* 
the doctrine of Christ. And yet, with all allowances for 
past errors, it may be said that modern European society 
owes many of its best and most stable features to the 
religious elements which have been mingled with it. The 
historical proofs must be sought in their proper place. 



62 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

The reader will not expect them here. But a few leading 
considerations will be a help to his studies. 

1. Christianity has been and still is a great power of 
civilization. By civilization we do not mean the mere 
accumulation of wealth, or the multiplication of the means 
of material enjoyment, or mere superficial refinement of 
manners ; but the development of the true idea of society, 
that is, of the world as a community of families, and 
nations, holding free and orderly intercourse with one 
another and exchanging benefits, as their power of jDro- 
duction and general capacity grows. It must be acknow- 
ledged that all true civilization rests upon law ; all law 
must rest ultimately on the will of God. Christianity, 
as the highest revelation both of the character and will of 
God, supplies a firm foundation for the law of society to 
rest upon. Where there is no acknowledgment of the 
Divine authority, there individualism becomes rampant 
and society falls to pieces. It has been said by Atheists 
that there is enough protection against the evil tendencies 
at work in society, in the forces of human nature and in 
the laws of the material universe. But such a crisis as 
the French Revolution shows that without religion the 
forces at work become chaotic, and the chaos is destructive. 
What we look for in society is a union of liberty with law : 
progress regulated by restraints and by principles which 
are beneficent and salutary. Now, the power of Christianity 
is to elevate the individual, mentally and morally, so that 
he becomes every way a stronger and better man ; and at 
the same time it elevates society by giving a common aim 
and rule to the whole community. Compare Christianity 
in this respect with Mohammedanism. We see in the 
history of the false prophet how the liberty of the in- 
dividual was sacrificed to the fanaticism of the zealot, how 
fatalism took the place of an intelligent purpose in life, 
and the masses of people were held in bondage by the 
despotism of mere physical power, the power of the sword 



CHRISTIANITY AND HEATHENISM. 63 

But Christianity is a religion of love, and therefore of peace 
and good will, liberty and order. Compare the history of 
Christendom, again, with the history of any heathen 
people — such as, in ancient times, Assyria or Egypt ; or, 
in modern times, the Hindoos or Chinese. We find in 
Christendom there is a decided moral advancement, so 
that errors and prejudice are being cast out, and that, 
just in proportion to the sway of Christianity; whereas, 
in heathen countries, while some improvements may be 
derived from contact with other nations, moral progress 
is not maintained, rather the rooted evils increase. The 
ancient empires were destroyed much more by their in- 
ternal corruption than by attacks from external enemies. 
They had no moral strength, because their religions were 
mere degraded superstitions which undermined the virtue 
and fed the passions of the multitude. The heathen world, 
at the present time, is a mass of moral filth and misery ; 
and the only hope of its recovery is in the influence of 
Christianity. 

There are two forces which are recognized as holding 
a prominent place in modern civilized society ; they are 
Science and Art, To a large extent it may be admitted, 
these two forces are changing the aspect of the world, so 
far as the present life is concerned. Are they independent 
of Christianity ? They certainly have not been so in past 
ages. Science may be said to be the distinct outcome of 
that awakening of the European mind in the sixteenth 
century which was due almost entirely to the influence of 
Christianity. It was the stirring of deep religious thoughts 
which broke the slumber of the Middle Ages. It was by 
the moral and spiritual force let loose by the controversies 
of the Reformation, and the international conflicts which 
accompanied them, that Europe was lifted up to a higher 
level of activity and enterprise, out of which came the 
achievements of modern times. Art was pre- eminently the 
child of Religion, of the Christian Religion ; and even in 



64 



PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 



Greece, of the religious impulse which, in the best natures, 
sought after an expression above the mere groping of 
heathenish ignorance and deformity. At the present time, 
notwithstanding the sad alienation of many scientific and 
aesthetic minds from the gospel of Christ, which, it may be 
hoped, is only temporary, this progress of science and art 
is dependent npon the progress of society generally, and 
that is the fruit of Christianity. The greatest stimulus 
which has been given to the cultivation, both of scientific 
observation and of artistic capacity, has come from men 
who were Christian in their faith, and who w r ere animated 
by that fervent philanthropy which never can long exist 
except in the clear daylight and genial atmosphere of 
Christian society. 

2. Christianity is especially adapted to meet and remedy 
the evils which are found in the world. This is a subject 
much dwelt upon ; there is no need to enter into it, in 
detail. The instance of the abolition of slavery is very 
much in point. Slavery was an evil which had grown up in 
the world partly from the decay of nations and partly from 
the struggle for supremacy due to the growth of power 
in the race. The root of it, however, was in the selfishness 
and cruelty of the fallen nature of man. Christianity did 
not deal with it politically : did not charge its followers 
to preach against the institution or custom. But the evil, 
as being chiefly a moral evil, was destroyed by moral forces. 
Humanity was itself elevated by Christ. The slave was a 
man and a brother. The blow which Christianity gave to 
slavery was an internal blow. It smote it in the vitals. 
The evil has been cast out of the world, not by the stirring 
up of a Christian crusade against it, but by the growth of 
the Christian spirit among the nations. Another instance 
is the change effected in the condition of women and in the 
family life. Both in the Old and in the New Testaments 
woman is honoured, and the affections of family life carefully 
shielded from the dangers to which they are exposed in the 






CHRISTIANITY A REMEDY. 65 

confusions of the world. It is impossible to read tlie writings 
of heathen antiquity, or to look into heathen society in 
the East at the present day, and not recognize the debt 
which the world owes to the Bible. Woman has never 
taken her proper place under any other religious system 
than the Christian. Even the Roman matron in the best 
times of the Republic was not what the Christian lady is. 
And we know that in Rome vice prevailed so fearfully 
when the stricter and simpler life of early times had given 
way to luxury and superstition, that the female character 
became degraded to the lowest point. In Eastern countries 
woman has no position which can be regarded as better 
than slavery and misery. In heathen nations the destruc- 
tion of infant life has been utterly reckless and cruel 
beyond all description. The children there are property at 
the disposal of the possessors; Christianity rescued the little 
ones out of the hands of arbitrary and selfish parents, and 
placed them under the protection of the Saviour. There is 
no teaching which can be compared with that of the Bible 
as a counteraction of the sensual corruption of all man- 
kind. The sanctifi cation of the body (" Know ye not that 
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost ? " 1 Cor. xi. 19), 
the love of neighbours as ourselves, the jjrospect of 
judgment, the presence of Jesus Christ with us at every 
moment and the consecration of all our nature to Him ; 
such are some of the doctrines of Christianity which tend 
to preserve Christians from falling into sensuality. And 
it was not only the abstract teaching of the Bible which 
promoted purity of life, but the practical working of the 
truth in the Christian community. Each individual 
Christian became a watchful guardian over his brother's 
consistency; and, at the same time, the strength de- 
rived from fellowship acted as a moral support to the 
weak and the tempted. It is also important to notice 
that the moral force of Christianity is not a merely negative 
force, prohibiting and restraining; it is a positive force, 

F 



66 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

renewing the nature, and therefore giving men the power 
to throw off the evil by the growth of the good. This 
we can see very abundantly illustrated in the work of 
Christianity among the young. Those thab are trained 
under Christian influences are not only saved from con- 
tact with the contaminating corruption, but develop a 
higher and purer life in the higher and purer atmosphere, 
so that they are doubly protected, both by the possession 
of positive good and the separation from outer evil. Ifc 
is well to notice, in connection with this moral working 
of Christianity, the fact that society is leavened with 
the force of living men and women, united to Christ 
and deriving their strength from Him, and formed into 
bands of energetic labourers in the Saviour's name. No 
mere body of principles and precepts would suffice to 
convert the world. There must be the contact of life 
with life, the enforcement of the doctrine by the example. 
There is nothing which can be compared with the 
Christian Church in any heathen system. Philosophy 
has put forth many beautiful sentiments and wise sayings. 
But what is wanted for the world at large is a living 
community which spreads, as the Christian Church has 
spread, from nation to nation, from family to family, until 
it embraces all and lifts up all. 

Another prevalent evil in humanity has been War. It 
has sprung, not from evil passions of mankind alone, but 
also from their errors, misunderstandings, false views of 
right and wrong, impatience and distrust of one another. 
Christianity is not responsible for any of the wars which 
have been waged, although they have often been waged in 
the name and professedly for the glory of Christ. The 
normal influence of the doctrine of the Saviour is to put 
an end to war. It must do so in the last result. The 
prediction which coincides with the ultimate triumph of the 
gospel is that of permanent peace. The spirit of Christianity 
is that of wise forbearance of one another and confidence 



CHRISTIANITY HELPS THE POOR. 67 

in God. It tends towards the end of strife and the reign 
of Justice. 

Lastly, it is the special distinction of Christianity 
that it provides for the poor, protects the weak, and 
champions the cause of the suffering and oppressed. 
The evils which lie at the base of society are to some 
extent inevitable, as the result of the increase of popu- 
lation and prosperity. In a great workshop there is 
sure to be a large amount of material which appears 
like refuse, which falls away from the finished products, 
and is apt to be treated as worthless. In the economy 
of nature there is no waste, nothing is lost, everything is 
transformed into some new shape. But in human society 
it is different. The prosperous are tempted^ to trample on 
the rights of the poor. The weak ones go to the wall. The 
lagging ones are left behind in the race. Heathen religions 
taught no doctrine of the conservation of human life. Philo- 
sophy left the problem unsolved, what to do with the 
refuse of society. Christianity comes in with its wonder- 
ful new creating power and brings back the lost, reclaims 
the fallen, restores the forsaken to their place — by the 
ministry of love and self-denial which it both inculcates 
and maintains. Many who hold aloof from Christ loudly 
proclaim their patriotism, their philanthropy, their charity; 
but the true examples of such virtues must be sought, not 
in the ranks of infidelity or scepticism, but in the annals 
of the Christian Church. 

3. Christianity teaches universal brotherhood, and pro- 
claims the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth. There are three 
unities which all thoughtful men recognize — the unity of 
the family relationship, the unity of the nation, and the unity 
of the race There have been many influences which have 
appeared among mankind, promoting these unities, sepa- 
rately and in part. But there has been no one system, 
either of religion or philosophy, which may be said to pro- 
mote them all at once. Patriotism was a virtue in ancient 



68 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

times, but it meant the love of our own nation and the 
hatred of others. There is a spurious universalism which 
is much talked of among the positivists of our day. And 
human interests themselves tend to preserve the unity of 
the fleshly bond. But the difficulty is to combine in one 
system that which will strengthen the tie of family rela- 
tionship and the love of kindred, and yet enlarge the circle 
of our affections so that we can cherish an " enthusiasm of 
humanity." It has been often remarked that when the 
Roman Empire absorbed the kingdoms of the earth into 
itself by conquest, it did much to widen the thoughts of 
men, and to promote the order of their life for a time, but it 
was at the cost of some of the finest sentiments of the human 
heart. Christians themselves could not inculcate anvthing 
better than quiet submission to the despotism of the Em- 
pire. There was no political life, no freedom, no patriotism 
possible, until that deadly uniformity was broken up. But 
when Europe became again the scene of national life, 
Christianity helped men to be true to it, and to defend it 
bravely. Then, as national life, again, began to lessen its 
claim on the interests of men, and the discoveries of modern 
times brought the ends of the earth nearer to one another, 
the fundamental conception of Christianity came out more 
and more clearly to view, and the Christian Church rose to 
it, and endeavoured to realize it practically. It must never 
be forgotten that the principle which lies on the very fore- 
front of Christianity is the universal brotherhood of man. 
It is proclaimed as an indisputable truth, because it springs 
out of the Fatherhood of God. The Church of Christ 
must be catholic, universal, or it is nothing. " There is 
neither Jew, nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, 
there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one in 
Christ Jesus" (Gal. iii. 28). The teaching of the New 
Testament lies at the foundation of all practical efforts 
to convert the world. It aims to bind all men together 
in the one bond of Christian fellowship, as a family, of 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. 69 

which God is the Father and Jesus Christ is the Elder 
Brother and Head. The fact is before us in the modern 
world, Christianity redeeming the race; not only caring for 
all but saving all. When we compare with the missionary 
zeal of Christians, the pride and exclusiveness of heathen 
systems, and the helplessness of mere philosophy, in the 
ancient world, we see how much the world owes to Christ. 
In the communities of the ages preceding Christianity there 
was natural humanity, to some extent, but it was crushed 
out by the evil working of forces which were developed by 
the customs of the world, and which met with no counter- 
action. " Inveterate feuds, and narrow-minded local 
jealousies, arising out of an isolated position, or differences 
of language and institutions, had created endless divisions 
between man and man. Selfishness was not a mere abuse, or 
corruption arising out the infirmity of human nature, but 
a theory and almost a part of moral philosophy. Humanity 
was cramped by a mistaken prejudice, by a perverse pre- 
sumption of intellect " (" Ecce Homo," p. 160). " That 
Christ's method, when rightly applied, is really of mighty 
force may be shown by an argument which the severest 
censor of Christianity will hardy refuse to admit. Compare 
the ancient with the modern w T orld : ' Look on this picture 
and on that.' One broad distinction in the characters of 
men forces itself into prominence. Among all the men of 
the heathen world there were scarcely one or two to whom 
we might venture to apply the epithet ' holy.' In other 
words, there were not more than one or two, if any, who, 
besides being virtuous in their actions, were possessed 
with an unaffected enthusiasm of goodness, and besides 
abstaining from vice, regarded even a vicious thought 
with horror. Probably no one will deny that in Christian 
countries this higher-toned goodness, which we call holi- 
ness, has existed. Few will maintain that it has been 
exceedingly rare. Perhaps the truth is, that there has 
scarcely been a town in any Christian country, since 



70 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

the time of Christ, where a century has passed without 
exhibiting a character of such elevation that his mere 
presence has shamed the bad and made the good better, 
and has been felt at times like the presence of God Him- 
self. And if this be so, has Cbrist failed ? or can Chris- 
tianity die ? " (" Ecce Homo," p. 171). The mere specu- 
lations and dreams of socialists and political enthusiasts 
fail to affect humanity at large. There is no true centre 
from which the labourers on behalf of the world can be 
sent forth ; except that one inexhaustible source of reno- 
vating influences and living energy, the person of Jesus 
Christ. He is represented by a continuously increasing 
number of disciples. His promise goes before them and 
Hope lights up their path. " Their labour is not in vain 
in the Lord." Those who take account of the triumphs of 
Christianity during the past century, and the prospects 
of its yet larger triumphs in the near future, will be ready 
to say with the zealous apostle, when he thought of visiting 
the great metropolis of the ancient world and planting the 
standard of the Cross on the very palace of the Caesars, 
" I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." 



How Christian Evidences should be studied* 

We have now completed the brief outline of Christian 
Evidence which it is the aim of this primer to place before 
the reader. But there are a few remarks which it is desir- 
able yet to make, for the guidance of those who take up a 
small work of this kind and might be disposed to com- 
plain of its leaving so many difficult questions untouched. 

We must distinguish between a speculative and a 
practical spirit, in the study of evidence. If Christianity 
came to us as a body of abstract truth, such as we find, 
e.g., in the writings of a philosopher, or in the work of a 
scientific theorist, we might then examine the evidence on 






METHODS OF STUDY. 71 

the simple ground of its relation to the particular truths 
in question, and if they were not proved to our satisfaction, 
we should then lay aside the book as possessing no more 
special interest to our minds. But it must be carefully 
remembered that there is a foundation of universal beliefs 
on which the particular doctrines of Christianity are built 
up. And they are intimately connected with the common 
life of man. 

Christianity takes for granted our relation to God as 
His creatures. It does not come to us as a revelation 
of what we instinctively believe. It does not profess to 
prove our moral obligations and our future existence. 
But addresses itself to those who know and feel that they 
are weak and miserable and guilty in the sight of God. 

The practical need of a religion such as is set before 
us in the Bible is the one strong support on which all 
evidences rest. To one who is utterly indifferent to all 
religion, such a subject will be repulsive, and it will be 
labour spent in vain to endeavour to show that it makes a 
claim upon his rational assent. But if there be in the 
mind a sense of the need and value of a strong conviction, 
a desire to obtain such a conviction, then a thoughtful review 
of the whole region of evidence will help the heart to cast 
itself more entirely on the truth and to stand more firmly 
against the assaults of doubt. 

There are questions, more particularly critical questions, 
such as those which concern the authority of some of the 
books in the Bible, w r hich are very difficult to determine. 
The evidence which has to be weighed is of a very subtle 
kind, some of it surrounded with uncertainty because it 
deals with matters of remote antiquity, and with writings 
which have been left in a very unsatisfactory state, having 
passed through many hands. 

But while we may see that such points are not as 
strongly defended as others, it should be borne in mind 
that they are not vital points ; and that they do not in- 



72 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

volve, if taken by the enemy, the surrender of vital points. 
Attacks are made on portions of the Old Testament which 
are said by some modern critics to be of much later date 
than we have been accustomed to believe. Bat the 
substance of Christianity is not touched by any such 
speculative questions. 

Again, there may be interpretations of Scripture to 
which the great majority of Christians have given in their 
adhesion which hereafter may prove to be erroneous. But 
that will not invalidate the main features of the New 
Testament revelation. There may be modifications need- 
ful in the form of particular doctrines, but that will not 
disprove the reality of the facts on which our faith stands. 
With a decided practical aim in view, earnestly desiring 
to have a full assurance of faith unto salvation, it will be 
found that the study of Christian evidences enables us to 
" give a reason of the hope that is in us." 

Another guiding maxim which we would urge upon the 
reader to keep in mind is to distinguish, in subjects of 
this kind, moral certainty from scientific demonstration. The 
point to be reached is not the exclusion of all possible 
doubt, but the duty of faith, and of the practice which 
springs from it. A mathematical theorem is proved to 
demonstration. The premisses being granted, no reason- 
able being, capable of understanding the argument, will 
resist the conclusion. So in scientific proof, the evidence 
is referred to fixed principles. It is the mere application 
of laws which are already ascertained. There is a depart- 
ment of Science where demonstration is not perfect — what 
is called speculative science ; as e.g. the principle of 
evolution, as explanatory of the material universe. In 
such instances there is the accumulation of evidence in 
support of a theory which may make it more or less 
reasonable, but there can be no actual demonstration. 

Now, the truths of Christianity appeal to our moral 
nature. The facts upon which they rest are facts of history, 



MORAL EVIDENCE AND DEMONSTRATION. 73 

and therefore depend upon moral evidence. They cannot 
be proved with mathematical evidence. But in this re- 
spect they are only like all the truths and facts which move 
our life. We are absolutely certain of nothing, except 
of elementary ideas, which, as elementary idens, have no 
practical meaning. The moment we begin to apply them 
to the realities of our own life, then the possibility of doubt 
comes in. That two and two make four we cannot doubfc, 
because to doubt it would be to contradict ourselves, our 
elementary ideas ; but that two persons came out of one 
room into another, and joined two others, making four in all, 
is a question of fact, about which we cannot be absolutely 
certain. We can examine the evidence, and the evidence 
may make us morally convinced. We act upon the moral 
certainty. So in the case of religious truth. It can be 
so far proved that doubt becomes irrational, and an im- 
moral resistance of the evidence. But it may be doubted, 
not because the conclusion does not properly follow from 
the premisses, but because the premisses are not sufficiently 
well weighed and the reasoning is not clearly grasped. 
Hence the importance of the study of Christian evidences. 
It enables us to feel the moral force of the appeal Chris- 
tianity makes — " How can we escape, if we neglect so great 
salvation ? " 

The evidences of our religion are often described as 
External and Internal. By External evidences are intended 
those which concern the facts and documents, apart from 
the doctrines which they teach and the influence which 
they exercise ; by Internal evidences^ those which are 
derived from the religion itself, such as the moral worth 
of the doctrines, their consistency with the facts and with 
one another, the spiritual life as proceeding from them, 
the adaptation of the truth to the hearts and to the wants of 
men, and many other subjects of a similar nature. Now, it 
is important to remember that these two kinds of evidence 
meet and support one another. They are mutually com- 



74 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

plementary. To some the internal evidence will be far 
more satisfactory than any amount of argument about 
authenticity and external authority. But with others, 
whose.minds are unprepared to weigh the force of an appeal 
to the deeper instincts of the soul, it may be necessary 
to begin with the proof of facts and the genuineness of 
writings. 

At the same time, the recommendation to the reader 
is, to open his mind to both kinds of argument ; and 
especially to keep in view the practical nature of the 
study upon which he enters. If a book of the Bible 
is being examined, it is a most desirable thing that we 
should not content ourselves with a mere critical inquiry 
into the arguments for its date, authorship, and place in 
Scripture, but that we study the matter of the book 
itself. Difficulties of language and form may be often seen 
to be very much smaller than they appeared at first, when 
they are viewed in the light of the truth taught and 
the spiritual value of the whole work. A cursory ex- 
amination of critical objections to such a book, e.g., as Jonah 
in the Old Testament, may shake belief in its authority, 
but a thoughtful and earnest study of the practical 
meaning and aim of the book, will show that it not 
only has Divine authority, but holds one of the most 
important places in Scripture, which is borne out by 
the pointed reference to it in our Lord's discourses. We 
must read the Bible, not in the spirit of a disputant, but 
in the spirit of one who is seeking first and most for truth 
unto salvation; then the external evidences will be like the 
wall around the city, and the internal evidences will be like 
the treasures that are contained within those walls, which 
by their inestimable value compel us to hold them fast 

We will now conclude this primer with a few prac- 
tical suggestions, for the guidance of those who are 
students of the evidences. 



PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. 75 

I. Let ns suppose the reader to be one of limited oppor- 
tunities of study, and unprepared for any prolonged intel- 
lectual effort A plan of progressive study may be useful 
to such. 

The first thing necessary is to obtain a clear concep- 
tion of the nature of the arguments for Christianity. It 
should be understood that a great deal which is objected 
to the teaching of the Bible would be equally an objection 
to any religion. The existence of God should be regarded 
as a subject quite distinct from the claims of Christianity. 
As it is difficult for one who is untrained in argument 
to deal with such a subject without some preparatory 
study, we should recommend that the Theistic portion of 
the argument be deferred. 

The three most easily comprehended departments of 
Christian evidence are the evidence for The authority of 
Scripture, that for The trutl , and faithfulness of the Gospels, 
and that for The adaptation i of Christianity to the wants of 
humanity. 

Let the reader distinctly set before him what the 
questions are which he mm it be prepared, as far as possible, 
to answer. As e.g. with reference to Scripture — How do 
we know that the books which are now collected together 
in the Bible were written by those whose names are at- 
tached to them ? How do we know that they who wrote 
them were writing wit\ Divine authority ? How do we 
know that in the course of transmission the words have 
not been materially cha\ ged ? 

We should recommend on such a subject a careful 
study of such a work *,s Dr. Angus's " Handbook of the 
Bible." 

As to the Gospeis, the two principal subjects to be 
dealt with are — (i ; The evidence for the date of the narratives. 
This may be gathered from almost any work on Christian 
evidences -as that by Dr. Kennedy, "The Gospels: their 
Age and Authorship " (price, 75 a), or the same author's 



76 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

" Popular Handbook/' part ii., " Christianity." (ii.) The 
evidence for the miracles. The subject of miracles can be 
studied in the works of Prebendary Row — " The Jesus of 
the Gospels," " The Supernatural in the New Testament ; " 
also in the works of Dr. Kennedy — " Popular Handbook," 
parts i. and ii. 

But we cannot recommend the untrained reader to spend 
much time on large works on miracles, as the possibility of 
the miraculous is not now denied by the best thinkers of 
the sceptical school. The question, therefore, resolves itself 
into cue of the trustworthiness of the Gospels. 

The adaptation of Christianity to man is perhaps best 
considered historically. A brief account of the progress 
and triumph of the gospel in the first three centuries 
prepares the mind for dealing with the objections of such 
men as the German Strauss and the French Renan. Let 
the reader grasp the leading argument. The triumph of 
the gospel was due to its inherent p;,wer. It was not 
assisted by external circumstances. 

The little work by Thomas Cooper, " The Bridge of 
History over the Gulf of Time" (12mo), forms a suitable 
introduction to the historical argument. 

When the facts are studied, then advance to the principles. 
Endeavour to distinguish the leading features of Chris- 
tianity in its practical application to the spiritual wants of 
men: the answers which it gives to the questions of the 
conscience, of the individual life, of the destiny of the 
world at large. Compare the characteristics of Christianity 
with those of other religions — as e.g. its Monotheism with 
the Polytheistic systems, its spirituality with their super- 
stition, its records with their sacred books, its influence 
upon its adherents with the state of the heathen world. 

We should recommend the mastery of some Outline of 
the subject of evidences; and then the selection of a par- 
ticular branch on which to read more fully; the argument 
for Theism being postponed to the last. 



PLAN OF A FURTHER COURSE, 77 

II. We will now suppose that the reader is prepared to 
give close and diligent study to a course of works on 
evidences, and that he is able to grapple with the more 
difficult questions. Let him, in that case, after the perusal 
of some simple outline, like the present primer, then 
arrange his studies, according to the amount of time he 
is able to devote to them, on the principle of a consecutive 
line of argument. 

(i.) There is a God whom man can know and worship. 
The subject of Theism is a very vast one, but a few leading 
works are quite sufficient to place the reader in possession 
of the main arguments — Dr. Kennedy's "Popular Hand- 
book," part i. ; "The Christian's Plea against Modern 
Unbelief," part ii. ; Conder's "Basis of Faith;" Flint's 
" Theism and Anti-theistic Theories." 

(ii.) There is a revelation of God to man. This should 
be made a principal subject. Study the Nature of revela- 
tion; the Mode and Method in which the revelation must 
be made ; the argument for the Canonical authority of the 
Old and New Testaments ; the evidence for the truth of 
Scripture in the Fulfilment of prophecy ; the theories of 
Modern Critics, such as the mythical theory of Strauss ; 
the attacks made on the Gospels and Acts by such a writer 
as the author of "Supernatural Religion." 

It will be evident that the demand made by these 
subjects is great, both upon time and thought. But if 
the guidance of a good Handbook is followed, it will be 
possible to combine with it the study of many volumes 
which take up particular branches of the evidence without 
burdening the mind too much. Prebendary Row's 
" Bampton Lectures," and the Rev. G. B. Johnson's little 
work, " The Bible : its Structure and Development " 
and also the works of Canon Westcott, on the " Canon 
of Scripture," or any other similar books, will furnish the 
student with the principal details of the argument. It is a 
good method, however, to select some one branch, such as 



78 PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. 

Prophecy, 01 Miracles, and read extensively, for a time, 
upon that alone. It will prepare the mind for mastering 
the subtler difficulties in all branches. 

(iii.) The history of Christianity, and of the attacks which 
have been made upon it, prove it Divine. It should be the 
aim of the student to become thoroughly acquainted with 

(1) The facts of the first century of Christianity ; 

(2) The proofs to be derived from the writings of the 
second century of the authority of Christianity ; 

(3) The history of unbelief from the beginning ; 

(4) The present attitude oi the opponents of our 
religion. 

The books already referred to will furnish the outlines. 
Farrar's " Critical History of Free Thought " is a valuable 
help to understand the conflicts of the past. The press 
teems with publications meeting modern attacks upon the 
Christian positions. 

It is well, however, to concentrate attention on two points 
— The objections of the scientific school to the supernatural 
in the Bible, and The claim of natural religion to be regarded 
as on a level with revealed religion ; in other words, the 
tendency to depreciate specific doctrinal teaching. On 
the first of these subjects many works are published. Two 
may be selected — Rev. T. M. Herbert's " Realistic As- 
sumptions of Modern Science examined " (Macmillan, 
1880), and Rev. Professor Griffiths' " Faith, the Life-root 
of Science, Philosophy, Ethics, and Religion " (Elliot 
Stock, 1882). On the latter subject, it is sufficient to 
remind the reader that Butler's great work, "The Analogy 
of Religion to the Course of Nature," has never been 
answered, and that he cannot do better than master the 
second part, " On Revealed Religion," reading with it 
some of the chapters of Paley's " Evidences " bearing on 
the same subject, chapters i. and viii. We would recom- 
mend Newman's " Grammar of Assent " as a work helpful 
in showing the necessity of a direct revelation. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 79 

In conclusion, let the student bear in mind that, in a 
large amount of evidence, such as he will have to review, 
the systematic arrangement of his reading- is of the utmost 
importance. Some of the larger works are sadly deficient 
in this respect, and give the reader unnecessary trouble. 
Paley's great work, full as it is of information, lacks 
system. But it is quite possible to supply this defect 
by orderly method in our studies. 

Make some systematic work the foundation. 

Clearly distinguish the different branches of the argu- 
ment. 

In selecting works to read, let them be as much as 
possible those which deal with definite subjects. 

Keep the abstract apart from the historical. 

Arrange details by means of principles. 

Do not burden the memory with minute and unim- 
portant matters, while the main subjects are unstudied. 

Advance from the simple to the difficult. Then the 
sense of mastery will give confidence, and the consciousness 
of progress will encourage effort. 

Whenever the mind is itself perplexed and troubled with 
doubt, endeavour to ascertain what the doubt is in its 
relation to the whole line of argument. Put it in its true 
place, and it will often vanish before a comprehensive 
survey of the line of evidence. 

The cumulative effect of the systematic study of 
Christian evidence is so great, that isolated difficulties are 
lost in the general assurance of " the certainty of those 
things in which we have been instructed" 



We append to this text-book the following pages from the 
excellent little treatise of Rev. W. Benhain, B.D., "How to 
Teach the Old Testament." because it furnishes a text for 
some lessons in the second year of the course of the Assembly 
Normal Union. For particulars concerning this course of study 
for Sunday-school teachers, address Rev. A. E. Dunning, No. 1 
Somerset Street, Boston, Mass.; or, Rev. J. L. riurlbut, D.P f 
No. 805 Broadwav, New York. 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 81 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



THE BIBLE AS THE DIVINE INTERPRETATION OF HISTORY. 

Let us first consider the Bible as the teacher of true historical 
principles. The teacher in other departments of his work has 
to do with history. The Bible offers him principles by which 
he can examine and judge of the history of nations and men. 
And, having so examined and judged, he will be able to con- 
vey the lessons he has learned even to minds of tender years. 

History is the highest and noblest of all sciences. It is also 
one of the most difficult. Man lived history. It is a record of 
himself. " Each new fact in each man's life," says a profound 
thinker, "flashes a light on what great bodies of men have 
done, and the crises of his life reflect crises of nations." 

It will hardly be necessary to tell my readers that history is 
not a mere collection of names and dates. It should enable us 
to see men themselves as they lived in the past, their thoughts, 
hopes, struggles, sorrows, joys. Then it becomes of all studies 
the most valuable, far higher than any other, for the purposes 
of moral instruction. We have already said that the heart is 
more easily moved by incident than by abstract propositions. 
In other sciences we learn facts and principles, in history we 
see men — we see life. Great deeds are done by beings like 
ourselves, and the heroes of the past leave to all who follow 
after them the legacy of their bright example. Without dis- 
cussing at any length the various theories of history which 
have been put forth by philosophers, we may assert three pro- 
positions : — 

1. History shows us how powerful nature has been to affect 
the welfare and destinies of man. 



82 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

2. It shows us also how man has been able to control and 
modify the powers of nature. 

3. And it shows how God, the Creator of all things, has laid 
His hand upon them both, and still controls them. 

Take the first of these. We all know how climate, food, 
soil, affect man. To a great extent they cause the differences 
which characterize the inhabitants of the earth, differences of 
size, form, feature, of habits and customs, even of morals and 
religion. They prompt emigration, indicate the employments 
of the people, fix the localities of cities. 

But this only accounts for a portion of what we see in the 
world. Man is not a mere creature of circumstances ; lie would 
not be man else, he would be no better than a tree or a stone. 
Let him be placed where he will, he at once asserts his lordship 
over nature by bidding it serve his ends. And this brings us 
to our third proposition. He who asserts His lordship over man 
by declaring that the earth is His and lie made it, is God. As 
a wise German philosopher ] writes : " Without the knowledge; 
that there is a God regulating the course of human destiny by 
His all-ruling Providence, by His saving and redeeming power, 
the history of the world would be a labyrinth without an out- 
let — a confused pile of ages buried upon ages — a mighty tra- 
gedy without a right beginning or a right ending."' 1 

I believe that, the more the Bible is studied, the more what 
has been stated will be found its philosophy of history. It is 
expressed in the words, " The earth is the Lord's and the fulness 
thereof." Man placed in the earth to replenish that earth and 
subdue it, and God guiding him with the end always in view 
of restoring him to his original perfection in the world to 
come. 

Let us see what is God's method of interpretation. The 
Bible gives no elaborate chronology or annals of the nations of 
the world. There are, it is true, occasional notices of the pro- 
gress of other nations, but they are incidental to the one great 
purpose of God's progressive revelation of himself to fallen man. 
From the first we never lose sight of the Church in which He 
set up His witness of Himself, as a means to enlighten the whole 

i Scklegel. 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 83 

world. That Church was at first consecrated in a single fam- 
ily, gradually it widened into a nation. We see indeed con- 
tinually God-fearing men outside that Church, proofs that His 
light was enlightening them also; but the visible tokens of 
his presence were with the chosen race until the fulness of 
the time was come. That chosen nation was God's instru- 
ment by which He proved His lordship over all the nations. 
Even as Christ raised Lazarus from the dead to prove 
Himself the Resurrection and the Life of the world, so God 
wrought miracles and signs in Israel as visible tokens that 
He guides all nations and is Lord of their destinies. It is 
written in the Psalm, " He made a covenant with Jacob, 
and gave Israel a law which He commanded our forefathers 
to teach their children" (Ps. Ixxviii. 5). We — reading 
this in the light of the New Testament, remembering that 
we are " no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citi- 
zens with the saints and of the household of God" (Eph. ii. 19) 
— we are able — nay, we are bound — to adopt the Psalmist's 
words to ourselves, and to say, "He made a covenant with 
England, and He gave England a law." And we look upon the 
history of France, or Germany, or Eussia, and we find in the 
Old Testament how God would have us judge of such a his- 
tory, that there is no kingdom or nation on earth which He 
sees not, and claims not as His own. Everywhere, as of old, 
He "loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity" (Ps. xlv. 7) ; 
" is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in 
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving in- 
iquity and transgression and sin, and by no means clearing the 
guilty" (Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7). The history of Israel gives the 
interpretation to all history, and a man reads the annals of that 
nation as given in the Old Testament to little purpose who does 
not see, by their help, the hand of God laid upon all nations. 



84 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



II. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT CONSIDERED AS A PREPARATION FOR 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

§ 1. THE CHURCH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 

I shall endeavor in the present chapter to give a detailed 
scheme of the history of the Church of God from the begin- 
ning, as the Bible brings it before ns. The Biblical history 
of the Creation is the history of the beginning of the earth 
considered as tlie abode of man. Man is described to us in his 
original state, the state in which God was well pleased with 
him ; then we have the fall and expulsion from Paradise (i.-iii.). 
The descendants of Cain developed a premature and corrupt 
civilization; the children of Seth called themselves by the name 
of the Lord (Gen. iv. 2G, margin), i. e. they acknowledged the 
Lord as their God in contrast with the rest of the world. Here 
then we have the Visible Church. 

This Church continues, but is corrupted by mingling with 
the world (v., vi. 1-8). God's judgment falls on it, but the 
Church is preserved in the family of Noah; he offers sacrifice 
on coming forth from the ark, and God renews His covenant 
with him. 

Then we have notices of the rise of the great nations of the 
world (Gen. x.) ; and in the history of Babel we see an attempt 
at a godless unity, an attempt renewed in succeeding ages in 
the world's history, and each attempt in turn brought to con- 
fusion. The progress of the Church of God continues in the 
family of Shem, and the call of Abraham is the beginning of 
an organized polity, more full and definite than we have had 
before. But a sign that God's kingdom is not confined to one 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 85 

family, but is wide as the world, is seen in Melchizedck, King 
of Salem (and therefore in all probability a Jebusite), and 
priest of the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth 
(Gen. xiv. 18-24). 

In the solemn renewal of the covenant with Abraham, God's 
revelation is clearer than that to Noah. He opens to the Patri- 
arch a vision of the future, as yet indeed but slight, yet fuller 
than has yet been made known (Gen. xv.). 

Abraham's obedience to God's command to offer up Isaac 
was the culminating point of his faith and trust. It completed 
lu's self-surrender to God (Gen. xxii.). Compare with it Heb. 
xi, 17-19. On the death of his wife, his unfailing trust in the 
fulfilment of God's promise is seen in his refusal to mingle 
her dust with that of the people around. She shall be buried, 
and he with her, apart and alone. The blessing to the whole 
world shall come by the Church refusing to conform to the 
world. 

The covenant with Abraham was renewed to Isaac, but his 
name does not come very prominently before us. In the days 
of Jacob and his sons we are brought into view of the ancient 
monarchy of Egypt. Of that monarchy, too, God reveals Him- 
self the Lord and King, guiding it in His love and care, yet 
always keeping the Church distinct and apart from its idola- 
tries. The Church and covenant are no longer confined to 
one man, as in the case of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for all 
Jacob's sons are recognized as the people of the Lord, and 
called by the distinctive name of Israel. In the contest between 
Moses as the representative of His people and Pharaoh the 
opposer and blasphemer of the Lord, we have a figure of the 
great battle between Light and Darkness which the history of 
the Church still presents. 

In the wilderness w r e have the delivering of the written law, 
the establishment of a priesthood for the vicarious offering of 
sacrifice, and of a visible mercy-seat in a Tabernacle where 
God especially promised to be found of His people. The Tab- 
ernacle w x as carried about with the moving host in the wilder- 
ness, and on the settlement of the nation in Canaan was set up 
in Shiloh. 



86 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

The period between the exodus and the entry into Canaan 
falls into four distinct periods : — 

(a) The march to Sinai and encampment there (Ex. xv.- 
Nurn. x. 32). 

(b) The advance toward Canaan (Num. x. 33-xiv.). 

(c) The retreat and thirty-eight years' wandering (Num. 
xv.-xix.). 

(d) The final advance to the Jordan (Num. xx., xxi.) 

Of the period of the forty years 1 wandering we know almost 
nothing ; there are a few episodes of deep interest, such as the 
rebellion of Korah (Num. xvi.) and the history of Balaam 
(Num. xxii.-xxiv., xxxi. 1-8). But we see that all these long 
years Moses was patiently organizing the people under the 
direction of God, so that whereas they were little better than a 
horde of savages when they left Egypt, they were marshalled 
and arranged in regular order when they drew near to the 
Jordan. 

The conquest of Canaan is narrated in the Book of Joshua. 
The kings of the sou'Ji were defeated at the battle of Makkc- 
dah, and of the north at the waters of Merom (ch. i.-xii.). 
Then the land was divided among the tribes (xiii.-xxii.) ; after 
which Joshua, having convened the tribes, solemnly charged 
them to remember that they held the land as tenants under 
God. Then he died in peace, with the promise from them that 
they would follow his exhortations. 

In the period covered by the Book of Judges we see the na- 
tion in its early days often giving itself to violence and sin, but 
never Losing the witness of God which had been committed to it. 
The tribes were sometimes at war, not merely with foreign 
enemies, but with one another. The war with Jabin marks the 
last attempt of the old inhabitants to repossess themselves of 
the country; after that time we hear little more of them. The 
last remnant, the Jebusites, were dispossessed of Jerusalem by 
David (2 Sam. v.) 

As the country became more settled, there was an evident 
tendency to monarchy. Moses had anticipated and provided 
for this (Deut. xvii. 14-end). Abimelech's attempt, for a while 
successful, marks this tendency. But it failed partly through 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 87 

the godless character of the man and his attempt, partly from 
its prematureness. But by the time the Book of Samuel opens 
unity was so far attained that Eli the priest was also judge of 
the whole people, and the same office was filled by Samuel. 

§ 2. THE CHURCH UNDER THE MONARCHY 

The song of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is a song of the 
coming monarchy (1 Sam. ii. 1-10). It clearly regards that 
monarchy as on its way, and for the first time speaks of God 
as " the Lord of hosts." The First Book of Samuel is therefore 
sometimes called also truly " the First Book of the Kings." The 
orderly rule of Samuel and his rescue of the nation from ruin 
after the fall of Shiloh made the people more eager than ever 
for a king in order to preserve their unity. They sinned indeed 
in not referring the matter to God, in forgetting that He 
was the true Lord of the nation ; but He announced that He 
would grant their wish, yet all the while would rule them him- 
self. So the monarchy began, and with it began also the period 
of the prophets. Moses, as we know, had been a prophet; but 
with Samuel began a regular prophetic order, and we begin to 
read of " the sons of prophets " (1 Sam. x. 10, etc.). Thus we 
see the prophetic order was established side by side with the 
royal, and the student will find constantly that the prophet 
was the Divine check against tyranny and wrong on the part of 
the king. 

The teacher must remember that now we begin to have two, 
and sometimes more, portions of the Bible running side by side. 
We have a continuous narrative in the Books of Samuel and 
Kings, and from the death of Saul we have also the Books of 
Chronicles. But also we have the Book of Psalms to illustrate 
the history of David. The teacher will find it always an inter- 
esting subject with his pupils, when reading the history of Da- 
vid, to illustrate continually from the Psalms. 

A contrast to the great empires of antiquity, where a man 
built a strong city and then proceeded to tyrannize over and 
enslave his fellow-men around, was the history of Jerusalem. 
The people of Israel emerged from slavery to be a race of free- 
men. Their education was carried on in the wilderness, and 



88 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



in the fields and Pastures of Palestine, until they became an 
orderly nation and kingdom. Then, and not until then, David 
took Jerusalem as the centre and citadel of that free kingdom, 
and set up the ark of God in the midst, the sign that God was 
the Ruler and King of the people. And then we have his de- 
sire to build a temple, not (it is true) granted to him, but rec- 
ognized and blessed by God, who opens to him a vision of the 
greatness of the kingdom of David which shall be established 
forever (2 Sam. vii.). 

§ 3. THE CHURCH OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM. 

The teacher will find a very valuable table of the kings of 
the two kingdoms in the " Aids to Bible Students," p. 115. This 
table also contains notices of the contemporary history of the 
world. I add here to what the reader will find in that table the 
passages of Holy Scripture, where the histories of the respec- 
tive kings will be found. 



b. c. 

977. Rehoboam, 1 Kings xii. 1-24, xiv. 

21-31; 2 Chron. x.-xii. 
959. Abijarn, 1 Kings xv. 1-8; 2 Chron. 

xiii. 
956. Asa, 1 Kings xv. 8-24; 2 Chron. 

xiv.-xvi. 



916. Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xvii.-xx.; 
1 Kings xxii. 41-49. 



892. Jehoram, 2 Chron. xxi. 

885. Ahaziah, 2 Chron. xxii. 1-10. 

884. Athaliah, 2 Kings xi.; 2 Chron. 

xxii. 10, xxiii. 1-15. 
878. Joash, 2 Kings xii.; 2 Chron. 

xxiv. 

838. Amaziah, 2 Kings xlv. 1-20; 2 
Chron. xxv. 



977. Jeroboam, I Kings xii. 20-xiv. 20. 



95G. Nadab, 1 Kings xv. 25-31. 

954. Baasha, 1 Kings xv. 27-xvi. 7. 
932. Elah, 1 Kings xvi. 8-10. 
931. Ziinri, 1 Kings xvi. 9-20. 
929. Oinri, 1 Kings xvi. 21-28. 
918. Ahab, 1 Kings xvi. 29, xxii. 40. 

897. Ahaziah, 1 Kings xxii. 51-end ; 

2 Kings i. 
896. Jehoram, 2 Kings ii.-ix. 26. 



884. Jehu, 2 Kings ix.. x. 



856. Jehoahaz, 2 Kings xiii. 1-9. 
839. Jehoash, 2 Kings xiii. 10-xiv. 16. 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



9. Uzziah or Azariah, 2 Kings xv. 
1-7; 2 Chron. xxvi.; Joel. 



757. Jotham, 2 Kings xv. 32-38; 2 

Chron. xxvii.; Micah. 
742. Ahaz, 2 Kings xvi.; 2 Chron. 

xxviii.; Isaiah vii., viii. 
726. Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxix.-xxxii.; 

Isaiah ix.-xxxix. 
G97. Manasseh, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1-20. 
642. Amon, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 21-end. 
640. Josiah, 2 Chron. xxxiv., xxxv.; 

2 Kings xxiii. 1-30; Habakkuk. 
609. Jehoahaz, 2 Kings xxiii. 30-34 ; 

Jer. xxii. 11, 12. 
609. Jehoiakim, 2 Kings xxiii. 34, 

xxiv. 1-6; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 5-8. 
598. Jehoiachin, 2 Kings xxiv. 8-16; 

xxv. 27-30; Jer. xxii. 24-30. 
597. Zedekiah, 2 Kings xxiv. 17-end, 

xxv. 1-21. 



B. C. 

823. Jeroboam, ii.; 2 Kings xiv. 23-29; 

Amos; Hosea. Interruption 

of ten years. 
772. Zechariah, 2 Kings xv. 8-12. 
771. Shallum, 2 Kings xv. 13-15. 
771. Menahem, 2 Kings xv. 15-22. 
760. Pekahiah, 2 Kings xv. 23-26. 
758. Pekah, 2 Kings xv. 27-31. 



730. Hoshea, 2 Kings xvii. 



The teacher will observe at a glance that the kings of Judah 
are much more fully dealt with in the Chronicles than in the 
Kings, whilst the latter book gives us much fuller information 
than the former about the northern kingdom, — Israel. Closer 
examination will show why this is so; the Books of Kings may 
be called a political history, the Books of Chronicles an eccle- 
siastical, and speaking therefore much of the Temple at Jerusa- 
lem, which was within the kingdom of Judah. In a nation where 
the State and Church were so closely united and intertwined, 
it was indeed a matter of course that each book shall say much 
concerning both ; still the Books of Chronicles, certainly writ- 
ten by one of the tribe of Levi, form the source from which we 
gain most information concerning the Temple worship and the 
priesthood during the days of the monarchy. The teacher, 
therefore, will be able to gather some very beautiful lessons 
concerning public worship and the ritual of Divine worship 
from these books. 



90 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

As the Book of Psalms throws light on the life of David, so 
do the Books of the Prophets upon the history of the monarchy. 
In our blessed Lord's parable of " The Wicked Husbandmen," 
He shows how the prophets were sent to bring the erring na- 
tion to obedience to their king (Matt. xxi. 33-41). 

There is one point which should not be passed over even in 
this short treatise. It is the fulness of the prophetic power 
which was brought to influence the northern kingdom. As if to 
compensate for the loss of the regular priesthood and Temple, 
God gave some of the greatest of the prophets to the kingdom 
of Israel. Elijah and Elisha were almost entirely ministers to 
that kingdom. We hear of no word of Elijah to Judah, if we 
except the posthumous letter referred to in 2 Chron. xxi. 12. 
Jonah had also a mission to the kingdom of Israel, though it is 
not detailed in Scripture (2 Kings xiv. 25). 

§ 4. THE CHURCH IN THE TIME OF THE CAPTIVITY. 

The direct historical narrative breaks off with the Book of 
Kings, and we have to piece it together by means of the proph- 
ets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and of the Assyrian and 
Babylonian history. 1 The following slight table of the events 
of the seventy years' captivity and the return will, it is hoped, 
be a help to the teacher : — 

G06. Judali under Jehoiakim made tributary by Nebuchadnezzar. Many 
Jews, chiefly of the richer classes, carried to Babylon ; among them 
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. (2 Kings xxiv. l-± ; 
Dan. i. These passages should also be read : Jer. xxvi., xxvii. 1-11 ; 
xxxv., xxxvi.) 

598. Jehoiachin reigns three months. Jerusalem taken by the Chaldeans. 
Jehoiachin in exile. (Jer. xxii. 1-10.) 

597. Zedekiah reigns as vassal of the Chaldeans for eleven years. (2 Kings 
xxiv. 17-20). 

594. Ezekiel receives his call as prophet, by the river Chebar. (Ezekiel i.) 
The first twenty-four chapters of this prophet relate to the exiles in 
Babylon who were carried away at the first deportation. Then he has 
several chapters concerning foreign nations, xxv.-xxxii. 

589. Zedekiah applies to Egypt for help, whereupon the Chaldeans immedi- 
ately besiege Jerusalem again. 

1 There is a very good sketch of the history of the great empires in 
the Aids, pp. 96-109. — The Bible and the Monuments. 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 91 

586. Jerusalem is destroyed, and the king taken prisoner. (2 Kings xxv. ; 2 
Cliron. xxxvi. ; Jer. lii. ; Ezek. xxxiii. 21.) The greater part of the 
people carried away to Babylon. Jeremiah writes the Lamentations. 
Gedaliah is appointed governor by Nebuchadnezzar, but is killed by 
Ishmael. Many of the people flee into Egypt, and take Jeremiah with 
them. (2 Kings xxv. 22-26 ; Jer. xliii.) 

581. Ezekiel's vision of the new Temple (Ezek. xl.-xlviii.) 

580. Nebuchadnezzar sets up his golden image in the plain of Dura. (Dan. hi.) 

570. Nebuchadnezzar's madness. (Dan. iv. 22, 27, 29, 33.) 

564. His recovery. 

562. His death. Accession of his son Evil-merodach. Jehoiachin taken out 
of prison. (2 Kings xxv. 27). 

560. Evil-merodach slain ; succeeded by Nergal-sharezer the Rab-Mag, i. e. 
chief of the Magi (see Jer. xxxix. 3, 13), called Neriglissar in Jose- 
phus. He married Nebuchadnezzar's daughter. 

556. Nergal-sharezer succeeded by his son Laborosoarchod, a child, who is 
murdered within a year. 

555. Nabonadius succeeds (called by Herodotus, Labynetus), He appears to 
have married a (laughter of Nebuchadnezzar. Having associated with 
himself Belshazzar as joint-king, he marched against Cyrus king of 
Persia, who was at war with Croesus king of Lydia, leaving Belshazzar 
in charge of Babylon. Cyrus routed Nabonadius (who thereupon shut 
himself up in Borsippa) and marched against Babylon. 

538. Belshazzar's impious feast, interrupted by God's awful message. Baby- 
lon taken by Cyrus, who committed the rule of the city to Darius the 
Mede. (Dan. v.) 

538. Daniel cast into the lions' den. (Dan. vi.) 

536. Death of Darius. Cyrus ruler at Babylon. His decree restoring the 
Jews, an answer to Daniel's prayer. (Dan. ix.) 

§ 5. THE CHURCH FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE END OP 
THE OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 

536. Return of the exiles from Jerusalem under Zerubbabel. (Ezra i.-iii. ; 2 
Cliron. xxxvi. 22, 23). The rebuilding of the Temple begins. 

529. Cyrus dies, and is succeeded by his son Cambyses, called in Ezra iv. 6 
Ahasuerus (Persian and Sanskrit name for " king "). The adversaries 
of the Church try to stop the building of the Temple. (Ezra iv. 6.) 

521. Death of Cambyses. Accession of a Magian impostor who pretended to 
be the younger son of Cyrus, Smerdis ; called in Ezra iv. 7 Artaxerxes, 
i. e. ft great warrior." The enemies repeat their attempt, and the 
Temple works are stopped. 

521. The false Smerdis is slain, and succeeded by Darius Hystaspis. (Ezraiv. 
24 ; v., vi.) Under him the Temple works are recommenced. 

517. Temple completed. (Ezra vi.) 

490. Darius invades Greece ; but is defeated at the great battle of Marathon. 

485. Xerxes, who succeeds his father Darius, is the Ahasuerus of the Book of 
Esther. A great feast which he gives to his nobles leads to the deposi- 
tion of Queen Vashti. He invades Greece, but is defeated at the bat- 
tles of Salamis and Platsea. On his return Esther is made queen. 



92 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

473. Hainan's plot. Institution of the Feast of Purim. 

4C4. Artaxerxes Longimanus succeeds his father Xerxes. 

457. Ezra goes up from Babylon, under commission from Artaxerxes, with a 
large company of Jews. (Ezra vii., viii.) His reformation of religion 
and manners. (Ezra ix., x.) 

444. Nehemiah goes up to Jerusalem, sent by the same king, as Tirshatha, or 
''governor." He repairs the broken Avails, notwithstanding the cow- 
ardice and sloth of the Jews and the spite of their enemies. (Neh. 
i.-vii.) Solemn assembly of the people, and high festival. The cove- 
nant renewed. (Neh. viii.-xii.) His reformation. 

430. With the prophet Malachi the Old Testament Scriptures close. 

§ G. THE CHURCH PROM THE CLOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 
SCRIPTURES UNTIL THE COMING OF CHRIST. 

This division of the history of the ancient Church of God 
does not fall strictly within the history of the Old Testament. 
We gather it partly from the writings of Josephus, partly from 
the Apocrypha, partly from profane authors. All that can be 
done here is to name the principal epochs. 

The Jews continued under the rule of Persia as long as that 
monarchy lasted. The Samaritans being refused communion 
with them, Manasseh built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, 
b. c. 409. 

In B. c. 333, Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, con- 
quered the Persian king Darius, and the Persian monarchy was 
at an end. This event was the means of spreading the Greek 
literature and language all through the East, and thus a great 
help was prepared for the spread of the Gospel. He founded 
the city of Alexandria, and under his sanction great multitudes 
of Jews took up their abode there. In after years, when many 
of them had forgotten their native tongue, the Old Testament 
was translated into Greek for their use; this is the translation 
called the Septuagint. When Alexander died, in 323, his con- 
quests were divided between four generals. Palestine lay be- 
tween the kingdoms of Syria and Egypt, and became a battle- 
field of these rival kingdoms, being seized again and again, 
first by one power, then by the other. 

The tyranny and cruelties of Antiochus Epiphanes, who be- 
came king of Syria B. C. 175, led to the rising of the Jews under 
the brave Maccabees, and Palestine again became independent 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 93 

b. c. 141, about the time when Rome, by the destruction of her 
rival, Carthage, and the conquest of Corinth, was consolidating 
her colossal power round the Mediterranean Sea. Thus began, 
at Jerusalem, the dynasty of the Asmonaeans. It lasted till 
B. c. 70, in which year a dispute between Hyrcanus and Aris- 
tobulus, the great-grandsons of Simon the brother of Judas 
Maccabaeus, led them to appeal to the Roman general Pomj^ey, 
who had been achieving great victories in the East. He came 
and made Judaea subject to the Roman power. Then came 
the civil wars of Rome, and at the battle of Philippi, b. c. 41, the 
Republic was overthrown, and the Empire took its place under 
Augustus Caesar. Two years before, Herod, an Edomite, had 
succeeded in persuading the Romans to make him king of Jndaea. 
During his reign, and under the Empire of Augustus, our 
Blessed Saviour was born. 



94 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



III. 

THE OLD TESTAMENT CONSIDERED AS THE PREPARATION FOR 

CHRIST. 

I have spoken of the Bible as the interpreter of history ; I turn 
now to a subject never to be lost sight of by the teacher. "We 
are told (to quote the Revised Version) in Heb. i. 1 that God 
spake of old " unto the fathers in the prophets, by divers por- 
tions and in divers manners." Always, as the New Testament 
teaches us, the eternal purpose of God was before Iliin in the 
revelation of the Old Testament, of gathering together all 
things in Christ. The revelation was "by divers portions,* 1 it 
was not all given at once. The light became clearer as the 
world moved on. Of the "divers manners, " too, we shall see 
as we read. But though the revelation was progressive, there 
is enough to show us the unchanging character of God's pur- 
pose from the beginning. 

1. Sacrifice. — Let us start with these words from Rev. 
xiii. 8. "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. " 
Before Adam sinned, the Lamb had been slain in the eternal 
counsels of God. It was no afterthought following that sin; 
it was an essential part of the very nature and character of 
God. Here we stand to-day between two eternities. We look 
back upon the past, and that is all mystery : the eternal exist- 
ence of God, the mutual love of the Father and the Son. We 
look into the future, and see ourselves in the great eternity, 
and all is solemn mystery there. And between them the un- 
speakable Love has placed us to adore and believe; to believe 
that there is and has ever been, by some divine necessity be- 
yond our comprehension, a combination of sacrifice and power. 
This serves to explain the fact that wherever we meet with any 
sort of religion in the wide world, there is sure to be sacrifice 
in some form. The miserable and ghastly form which it takes 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 95 

among the African tribes, who slay their fellow-creatures be- 
fore their idols, is a caricature proving that there must have 
been a true form of sacrifice at first which came down from 
heaven. The false forms are found in the heathen religions ; 
the true in Holy Scripture. 

2. Abel's Sacrifice. — The first direct mention of sacri- 
fice is that of the sons of Adam (Gen. iv.) Cain's offering was 
rejected ; Abel's was accepted. Whether the difference lay in 
the characters of the two men, or in the nature of their offer- 
ing, we are not told ; but as one reads the rest of the Bible it 
seems almost clear that it was, in part at least, the second of 
the two. The brothers stood in a world which had been pol- 
luted by sin, but which had also received a covenant of deliver- 
ance. We know that this covenant rested on the Lamb slain 
from the foundation of the world, though not yet revealed to 
the world. Their lives, like the life of every man born into 
the world, lay in the redemption by Christ. This was the law 
of their existence, and therefore must be the basis of their wor- 
ship. The sacrifice of Abel's lamb was an expression of this ; 
the offering of fruits was not. The one, but not the other, 
imaged the Divine Sufferer. From the first the lamb was the 
standing symbol and type of the Redeemer. 

There is much that is fearful about the history of the Fall, — 
God's righteous anger — man driven from Eden — a threaten- 
ing glare upon his path from the flaming sword behind him. 
But a figure comes between. The shadow of the slain Lamb 
falls along the lengthening way; and in that shadow man 
crosses the wilderness of this world to a nobler Eden than he 
leaves. 

3. Extension of the Law of Sacrifice. — The teacher 
studying the records of God's revelation of Himself will not 
fail to note how, whenever He renewed, or extended, or en- 
larged His covenant with the patriarchs, there was always some 
extension of the law of sacrifice. Thus, after the Flood, when 
He renewed His covenant with Noah, we are told that Noah 
offered of every clean beast and of every clean fowl. So when 
God promised Abraham the land of Canaan, there was a spe- 
cial solemn sacrifice (Gen. xv.). 



96 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

4. The Significance of the Sacrifice of Isaac — 
The great chapter which relates to the sacrifice of Isaac stands 
midway in the world's history between the sacrifice of Abel 
and those appointed under Moses — midway in meaning, midway 
in time. For the sacrifice of Abel expressed the ground of 
man's hope, the slain Lamb ; but did not explain. Abel brought 
the firstling of his flock, and was accepted for his obedience 
and trust; and that was all. But in the case of Abraham and 
his son we have the very image of the great Offering to come. 1 
The well-beloved son, the representative of the whole race, is 
voluntarily offered by the father, — voluntarily offers himself. 
"They went both of them together," as we are told twice 
(verses 6 and 8); one in purpose, one in mind. The father 
binds the son ; the son unresistingly suffers himself to be bound. 
The type is complete. No type afterwards added anything to 
the fulness of this sublime prophecy-in-action. The sacrifices 
of Moses taught the people more concerning the benefits of sac- 
rifice, gave fuller information on details; but the truth itself 
that the Lamb was slain from all eternity was never more fully 
foreshadowed and exemplified than in the sacrifice of Isaac. 

We may, I believe, put it this way. In Isaac, Abraham 
saw the day of Christ (John viii. 56). Moses showed how the 
sacrifice of Christ would be applied. Just as in the New Tes- 
tament the Gospels tell us how Christ died, and the Epistles tell 
1 low the sacrifice is applied to the heart and the conscience; 
each has its work, and one completes the other. 

Space would fail me in trying to bring before the teacher 
all the points of this Divine history ; I can only just indicate 
some. (1) Abraham learned that his sacrifice would of itself 
not avail ; it would not have satisfied his craving to serve God. 
He learned that all human sacrifice could be only typical. 
Man could provide no fitting offering, and therefore the Lord 
provided. (2) Isaac looked round for a victim. There was 
none (Cf. Isa. lxiii. 5). (3) They went together and alone; 
the servants could not enter. No mortal can enter into the 
secret work of the Father and the Son (Cf. John xvi. 32; Isa. 

1 The chapter is one of the Proper Lessons for Good Friday. 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 97 

lxiii. 3). (4) Compare Gen. xxii. 6 with John xx 17. (5) 
Read the commentary supplied by Ileb. xi. 17-19. 

5. The Paschal Lamb. — The sacred history plainly in- 
dicates all through the Book of Genesis that it is moving stead- 
ily to a "far-off great event." The whole tenor of the prom- 
ises bade the receivers look forward. The captivity in Egypt 
marks an epoch in the history of the Church. It was not only 
a type of the battle of the Church with sin, but it was a pre- 
paration of the family to become a nation. When the time 
came for the development of this nation by their leaving the 
land of bondage, the great sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb was 
ordained. That was not only a sacrifice, it was also a feast ; not 
t only a type of the offering of Christ, but the beginning of a 
new state of things. The lamb, after being slain, was eaten. 
Xo part was burnt on an altar. Only that which the worship- 
pers could not eat was to be burnt with fire. The animal was 
to be dressed whole, not even a bone was to be broken. There 
is (if one may say so) a lavish abundance of emphasis in the 
way that all this is laid down, all indicating a truth so precious 
that words are too weak to express it, viz., that in His Coven- 
ant of Redemption God gives us in Christ His best, and gives 
it all. He keeps nothing back, and it is all for us. It is not 
merely a propitiation for guilt, it is an eternal life and joy. 
Our redeemed human nature partakes of the whole nature of 
an Incarnate God. 

And when we read the discourses of our Lord in St. John 
xiii.-xvi., with these ideas in mind, the history of the Passover 
throws light upon them which was not there before. Those 
discourses are the Divine interpretation of the central act of the 
Old Testament, out of which arose the central act of the Xew. 
The Passover of the Christian Church was the death and the 
rising again of the ancient rite. The typical Passover van- 
ished; but the Christian Eucharist arose at the same instant, 
and its forms still gave forth the same lesson which the forms 
of the elder rite had taught, but spiritualized and glorified like 
EzekiePs temple. 

The sacrifice was all for the benefit of those who were 
taught to offer it. The Body and Blood are given for us. 



yb HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

" Take this and divide it among yourselves," Christ says of the 
blood which is the life. 

But, above all, let us again recur to the great fact that this 
last Passover shows so clearly that the doctrine of Communion 
was a main constituent in the teaching of the Paschal feast. 
We have seen already how sacrifice and covenant go together, 
how all through God's teachings it was shown that human life 
is redeemed life. Traced upwards to its final source we see this 
redeemed life issuing from the throne of God, from the Lamb 
slain from the foundation of the world ; springing from that 
sacrifice at first and depending upon it still. We have no ex- 
istence apart from it. Who does not see this through all the 
discourses on the Passover night? "lam the True Vine.' 1 
"Except ye abide in Me ye are nothing.' 1 Whatsoever of 
divine and supernatural power is expressed by the words, " This 
is My Blood of the New Testament " must be circulating ever- 
more through our redeemed existence. For the whole Church, 
and for each member of the Church, it is the same — the Sac- 
rifice, and the Communion upon the sacrifice, not one without 
the other; the sacrifice and the feast make one Passover solem- 
nity. The one without the other is nothing at all, in the two 
together we have the Gospel. The Jewish Passover and the 
Christian Eucharist brought all hidden lights into view. The 
Jewish and the Christian rites joined hands under the shadow of 
the Cross, both bearing witness to Him of whom each testified. 
The one vanished away in the very hands of Him who ordained 
it, but did not vanish without seeing Him hand it on in fairer 
colors to its newly-found sister. And therefore, when we read 
in the Old Testament of the great Jewish Passover, we add in 
our minds with thanksgiving the apostle's joyous comment. 
" Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep 
the feast." 

6. The Scapegoat. — The Paschal Lamb was the great- 
est type of the Old Covenant. Second to it came that of Scape- 
goat, of which a full account will be found in Lev. xvi. Once 
more let us note at the outset that the ordinances delivered by 
Moses were not a bundle of forms without coherence; there 
was a great unity in all that complicated arrangement of cere- 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 99 

monies, and that unity was the Divine Sacrifice. The Lamb 
slain from eternity meets us at every turn. The prism is 
many-sided, but the light is one. 

What was the further truth conveyed by the scapegoat? 

The Passover lamb was the bond of the covenant, the sign 
of union with God. But the people were continually breaking 
the covenant. Every act of sin broke it. The scapegoat ex- 
plains how the breach was to be healed. 

On the great Day of Atonement (10th Tisri) two goats 
were chosen, as near as could be of the same size and appear- 
ance ; one was to be for the Lord, the other for the scapegoat. 
The Hebrew word so rendered is so unusual that the transla- 
tors felt doubtful of the meaning, and therefore left it in the 
margin, as will be seen in reference Bibles — " Azazel." It is 
now agreed by Hebrew scholars that the word " Azazel " means 
" for the complete sending away." 

The first goat was to be slain and burnt as a sin-offering, 
and the full details of the offering are of deep and solemn 
interest. The Epistle to the Hebrews, it will be remembered, 
interprets the high priest's entry into the holiest place with the 
blood of the slain goat, to be a type of the entry of Christ into 
the highest heaven with His own blood of Atonement (Heb. ix.). 
So far all is clear. But the parallel to the work of Christ 
would not be completed by the death of the slain goat, because 
Christ not only died but rose again. To prefigure this, the 
other goat " for Azazel," was brought out alive after the other 
had been slain, the sins of the people were solemnly laid upon it 
*' for the complete sending away, 1 ' and the goat went away into 
a land not inhabited. Even so the resurrection of Christ was 
for our justification, for the complete putting away of sin. 

The scapegoat, then, sets forth that under the covenant of 
redemption, and through the power of sacrifice, the actual sins 
of men, confessed and repented of, are not allowed to stand be- 
tween the sinner and God, they are removed completely. Such 
an institution was necessary because, though men are in cove- 
nant with God, they are continually breaking it, till even the 
covenant itself seems a failure. The scapegoat bears witness 
in a beautiful figure that the One Sacrifice is continually avail- 



100 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

ing to remove the barriers which sin is always building up in 
spite of man's redeemed condition. "The blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanseth us from all sin," and the teaching of the scape- 
goat is Repentance and Restoration. 

7. The Serpent lifted up. —There is one other Old Tes- 
tament type of which I must sj:)eak at some length, different 
from the foregoing. Those that we have had have been ordi- 
nances in continual and regular order, a witness, year after 
year, of Him that was to come. But there were also types 
arising out of accidental circumstances, produced out of those 
circumstances, and then disappearing altogether. Two such 
stand above all others, the manna and the lifting up of the serpent, 
both in the wilderness. Of each of these our Lord declared 
that they were types of Himself (John iii. 14, 15; vi. 32-58). 
Xow, in each case, we have the same principle stated, namely, 
that from Christ himself proceed the spiritual energies of 
the regenerate life of those whom He has redeemed. In the 
one case the leading idea is that of continual support, in 
the other that of remedy. The manna represents Christ as the 
spiritual sustenance, renewing the strength of His fainting, 
struggling people. The uplifted serpent shows us Christ cru- 
cified as the spiritual medicine which renews their health. Food 
and sustenance are not enough. The life and health of the 
regenerate soul are weakened not only by the natural outgo- 
ings of strength which follow all the activities of created life. 
There are sicknesses of the soul, and wounds which accompany 
every state of strife and warfare. For the plague and wounds 
of sin remedies are needed. The circumstances which led to 
the lifting up of the serpent are familiar to us all. They are 
recorded in Num. xxi. The people, worn out with long jour- 
neying, lost heart, and, from want of trust in Him who had 
done so much for them, went on to despise the food which He 
had given them. So it is still. When we forget what God has 
done for us already, we go on to disbelieve that He is doing 
anything for us at all. We see no grace in the sacraments, no 
spiritual energies at work for our guidance. And so we become 
exposed to the danger of dark unbelief, the true fiery serpent. 
From the beginning of the Bible to the very end, the serpent 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 101 

is the symbol of the devil, the deceiver and false accuser. The 
devil is first the false accuser of God. He pats false notions 
and thoughts of God into our minds, and blinds us to the per- 
ception of the actual gifts and graces which are ours from 
Christ. And so as Israel sinned after the manner of the ser- 
pents temptation, they suffered by the serpent's bite. They 
charged God with not caring for them, and they had bitterly to 
learn what would become of them if God did not care for them, 
if He left them alone. The deadly wound of the serpent's bite 
paralyzes all spiritual life. And unbelief in our own spiritual 
privileges destroys all power of action. Then came God's rem- 
edy, the most vivid type of Christ's salvation which the history 
of the wilderness contains. " Not to condemn the world but 
to save," was His expression of the object of His mission (John 
iii. 17). The uplifted serpent was the Restoration of Trust. 
For it represented the power of God to slay the serpent, to de- 
stroy his work, to destroy the severance which unbelief had 
made between God and man by his false accusation. Nay 
more, it represented that God the Redeemer was already vic- 
tor over the accuser, was present to heal all who, from what- 
ever cause, had come under the criuVL power of the van- 
quished enemy. The people looked up at the image of sin 
fastened to the tree, and their trust was restored, and they 
lived again. 

Christ has nailed to His cross all fears and suspicions of God 
which coward conscience has begotten. And this is the first 
type in Scripture which sets forth the manner of the Sacrifice 
to which we turn our eyes and live. 

The question may still arise, How can the serpent, of all 
things, be a type of Christ ? We can see that the uplifting of 
the serpent represents the crucifixion, but how can the symbol 
of the devil be a type of the Saviour ? We reply, this type is 
intended to reveal to us as much as we are able to understand 
of the manner in which the sacrifice of Christ heals the dis- 
eases of our souls. It sets forth the actual doing away of sin 
which his atonement accomplishes. He who knew no sin " was 
made sin for us." He "bore our sins in his own body on the 
tree." He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, just as that 



102 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



which Moses lifted up was made in the likeness of the destroy- 
ing serpent. So when the Sinless was crucified, sin was slain, 
Satan was vanquished, the serpent's head bruised. The sight of 
the crucified gives us power to put away our mistrust and doubt 
and despondency. Christ the Conqueror is Christ the Healer. 
8. Other Types. — I have thought it well to treat a few 
of the great types at length as examples for the teacher. I 
can only name some of the others, leaving him to work them 
out for himself. Some belong, like most of those we have been 
considering, to the organized system of Old Testament ordi- 
nances. Some arise out of particular circumstances. I do not 
think I can do better than transcribe the Table of Contents of 
a charming little book, published by the National Society for 
sixpence, entitled "The Types and their Antitypes," by Lady 
Mary Herbert. It will be found full of suggestions to the 
teacher. Perhaps it will be well, however, to say a word of 
caution here against being too fanciful and making compari- 
sons out of mere accidents. In the case of the types we have 
named, we have divine sanction for them. So we have for 
some of those named in this list; e. g. as regards Eliakim com- 
pare Isaiah xxii. 22 wifh Rev. iii. 7. But clearly, if the teacher 
speaks of Samson as a type of Christ he should point out also 
the contrast as well as the difference. In both cases there was 
the love of the people, the might, and self-sacrifice. But the 
wilfulness and self-indulgence of the one marred a great work; 
the perfect holiness of the other completed His work. 

PART I. 
Holy Men of the Old Testament — Types of Christ. 

Abel Joshua Cyrus 

Melchizertek Samson Eliakim 

Isaac David Jonah 

Joseph Solomon Zerubbabel 

Moses ; his life Elijah Joshua, son of 

" his office Job Josedech 



PART II. 
The Typical Events of the Bible. 
The Flood The Taking of Jericho 

The Burning Bush The Scarlet Thread 

The Brazen Serpent The Fall of Babylon 

The Cities of Refuge The Destruction of Jerusalem 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 103 

PART ILL 

The Mosaic, a Type of the Christian Dispensation. 

The Temple The Feasts : 

The Outer Court i. Passover 

The Altar of Burnt Offering ii. First Fruits 

The Holy Place iii. Tabernacles 

The Most Holy Place The Great Day of Atonement 

The Ark and the Mercy Seat The Ceremonies 

The Veil The Year of Jubilee. 

The High Priest The Sabbath 

The Sacrifices The Holy City 

PART IV. 

The Two Sacraments. 

Types of Baptism, 
Noah's Ark The Passage of Jordan 

The Red Sea The Cleansing of Naaman 

Circumcision 

Types of Holy Communion. 

The Tree of Life The Springing Rock 

The Bread and Wine of Melchizedek The Shewbread 

The Wheat with which Joseph fed his The Barrel of Meal and Cruse of 

Brethren Oil 

The Paschal Lamb The Bread which the Angel brought 

The Manna to Elijah 

The journeying of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan, typical of the 
Christian's life in the Church. 

And I will quote one specimen from this book, the chapter 
on the "High Priest," as showing how interesting this subject 
may be made. 

"The High Priest. 

"The High Priest was the type of Christ, our Great High 
Priest. Heb. iv. 14. 

"1. He was anointed to the Priesthood: Christ is the 
anointed one. Ex. xxix. 7; Acts iv. 27. 

" 2. The Priesthood was to continue in the family of Aaron, 
and his alone : Jesus Christ is an eternal High Priest. Ex. xl. 
15; Heb. vii. 25. 

" 3. The High Priest entered the Most Holy Place within 



104 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the veil : our High Priest Christ Jesus is gone up into Heaven. 
Lev. xvi. 12; Heb. viii. 1. 

" 4. The High Priest only entered into the Holiest once a 
year: Christ having once made atonement for us entered into 
Heaven. Ex. xxviii. 35 ; Heb. ix. 7, 11, 12. 

"5. The High Priest made atonement for the people : Christ 
for us. Lev. xvi. 30; Heb. ix. 13, 14." 

Here is one other passage from another work, somewhat 
more full and elaborate, "The Figures and Types of the Old 
Testament," by the Rev. J. R. West (Masters) : — 

"The Pillar cf the Cloud and of Fire. 

" Although as soon as the Israelites had been baptized, God 
led them into the wilderness of temptation, yet he provided 
everything needful for their difficult journey. 

" First, He gave them the Pillar of the Cloud and of Fire 
(Ex. xiii. 21). This was an unerring guide which would lead 
them day by day, and night by night, till they should arrive at 
the Promised Land. It was also their guard for protection, as 
when the Egyptians were pursuing them. It was their cover- 
ing or shade in the daytime, so that the sun could not smite 
them ; and it was their light in the night season. For in it 
was the abiding presence of the Lord Himself. 

" And all this is a type of the abiding presence of the Lord 
with His Church now. For the cloud is one of the emblems 
of the Holy Spirit, and fire ever denotes divinity. And the 
pillar of fire was also the overshadowing cloud. 

"The Lord the Holy Ghost is now come down to guide, and 
to guard, and comfort, and enlighten us, as we travel through 
the wilderness of this world. And in His abiding presence is 
the presence also of our Redeemer and Saviour. 

" His holy guidance and godly motions if we humbly follow, 
He will guide and lead us safely, till we reach His holy habita- 
tion in the true felicity of the everlasting Canaan. Then we 
shall sing a new song of praise with more understanding to 
Him ivlio has led His people through the wilderness, for Bis mercy 
endureth fore:er. 



HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 105 

"But compare Ex. xxiii. 20, 21, with Eph. iv. 30, and Acts 
vii. 51." 

But the types are by no means the only method by which 
God foretold Christ under the Old Testament. In the fullest 
sense the whole of the Old Testament was prophetic. The 
chosen people were always bidden to look forward to "Him 
that should come," not only in the set prophecies, but in God's 
manifold dealings. 

9. The Jewish Monarchy is one instance. The setting 
up of the monarchy would lose its significance if we forgot 
that it was a leading up to the Kingdom of Christ. The prom- 
ised day of the house of David never could have come unless 
we take the greater kingdom into account. Such was St. Peter's 
argument in Acts ii. 30. So in St. Paul's first recorded ser- 
mon notice the force with which he dwells on " the sure mercies 
of David " (Acts xiii. 34). When God gave David the kingdom, 
He promised to befriend Solomon, and He said, "I will be to 
him a Father, and he shall be to me a son " (2 Sam. vii. 14). 
It is clear that the words refer to Solomon, that the visible king 
was under the care of the Invisible. But we feel this must 
have meant more than that Solomon should reign for awhile 
and die. It asserted that there was an actual relationship be- 
tween God and the Jewish king and nation. They did not 
understand how this could be, but there was the promise. The 
writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews shows that such a promise 
could only be fulfilled in Christ, who was the flower and per- 
fection of the Kingdom of David, and he therefore quotes these 
words and declares that they refer to Christ (Heb. i. 5). The 
same truth meets us all through the history of the monarchy. 
It would have been a beginning without an end if the outward 
had not been throughout the sign of the coming on of the 
Divine and Invisible. And this is the key to Old Testament 
prophecy; not a fast-and-loose way of making words mean 
anything, but the strict interpretation of God's whole system 
with His people. 

We trace a progress in the Divine Revelation as we pass 
through the Old Testament. First, God taught His chosen ones 



106 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

to believe in His Unity. It was one of the truths laid hold of 
by Abraham, who believed also in God's righteousness, faithful- 
. providence. It was the necessary foundation for ah which 
followed. He taught some, too, outside the chosen people, Mel- 
chizedek and Job for example. He gave fuller revelations to 
Moses than to Abraham, and delivered, through him. a written 
Law. "Moses stands in history the Father of Legislation.'' 
And a progress in knowledge is manifested in the commentary 
upon Exodus found in the Book of Deuteronomy. In him. too. 
we see the rise of the Prophetic order, and he is the first of his- 
torians. The prophetic gift grew nnto the days of Samuel, the 
reformer and the statesman, who "gathered round him at 
Xaioth, where his own house was situated, a number of young 
men whom he trained in reading, writing, and music. " In Da- 
vid, the Psalmist, we see a further progress. His contributions 
to sacred literature were the means of conveying fresh light 
concerning the promised Saviour, as in Ps. xl. 6-8, a distinct 
foreshadowing of the Incarnation. But further, the Psalms of 
David mark an advance in spirituality: there is a greater ful- 
ness and depth than in any writings before. " It is very im- 
portant,"' it has been well said, "that the Psalms should be 
studied from an historical point of view, i. e. not as ideal pat- 
terns of devotion revealed from heaven, irrespective of times 
and circumstances, but as actual utterances of individual piety 
under a dispensation of religion which, in the order of time, 
was intended to prepare for the higher teachings of Christian- 
ity. ... If they be regarded as voices floating in the air, after 
coming down from heaven, and not as expressions of thoughts 
and feelings gushing up from the depths of human souls, agi- 
tated by conflict, their nature and their meaning are misappre- 
hended." AYho does not see the wondrous moral force in the 
Psalms of David working its way upwards to what is perfect! 
For example, in the fifty-first Psalm, where the most appalling 
instance of backsliding which the Old Testament contains 
gives origin to the most touching of all songs of repentance? 
The plaintive songs, never, even in the deepest distress, without 
hope, the songs of grateful adoration, the intercessory (xx.. 
exxxii., cxliv.), the didactic (xxxiv.), not to speak now of the 



HOW TO TEACH TPIE OLD TESTAMENT. 107 

Prophetic, are all marvellous in the spiritual insight with which 
GeJ has endowed the writer. 

10. The Prophets. — Passing over the writings of the 
philosopher. Solomon, who began his teachings with inculcating 
that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 
i 7 . we come to the Prophets. The teacher will find the trou- 
ble he will take in analyzing them amply rewarded by the fresh 
sireams ci knowledge that he will open. Fresh revelations are 
made here also; the clearer vision of the perfect Kingdom 
grows with the prophets, experience oi the weakness and fail- 
ure of the earthly kings, one after another. But above all. as 
Isaiah sees in vision his nation captive and cast out for its sin, 
he sees too, with a light and a glory such as had never been 
vouchsafed to man before, that the Deliverer too must enter 
with boundless sympathy into the misery of the outcasts, must 
be •• despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and ac- 
quainted with grief <Jsa. liii.). 

And never do the prophets lose sight of the comforting but 
awful and solemnizing truth that God is a Being with whom 
men have to do every hour, who created, preserves, rules over 
them. Faith in Him is an absolute necessity: there is no com- 
fort or help to be gained by mere speculations about Him, nor 
by poetical imaginations. Xo poetry can be of use except it 
be altogether true. The whole Old Testament is full of the 
truth that the Lord is King, that His eyelids try the children of 
men. There is always — the past is never obliterated, 

but it is continually reproduced and augmented. The progress 
is full of memories, but fuller of hopes: tells the meaning of 
history, but tells too of better days to come, higher truth, 
purer righteousness. And the last chapter of all sees in the 
future John the Baptist, the last of the Prophets, the witness 
of the Incarnate Lamb of God. and closes with words which 
seem to gather up all the past books into a few burning words : 
M Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I com- 
manded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and 
judgments. Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before 
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he 
shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart 



108 HOW TO TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth 
with a cnrse." 

So the Old Testament ends. It was our schoolmaster, or 
tutor, to bring us to Christ ; and, while pointing forward to de- 
liverance, puts prominently forward God's hatred of sin. The 
last words, therefore, are characteristic words. There is surely 
a touching and beautiful significance in the fact (noted by Ben- 
gel) that when Christ, the Mediator of the Xew Testament, 
opened his mouth to proclaim the law of Hk Kingdom. Hr 
opened with the word "Blessed" (Matt v. 3) 



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